


What Happens in Vegas (Comes Back to Storybrooke)

by queenssaviour



Series: Swan Queen Week (Winter 2016) [2]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Angsty Rom Com, Bottom Regina, Drinking, Eventual Fluff, F/F, Face-Sitting, Hook is used for plot only and he makes no real appearance, Las Vegas, Oral Sex, Pining, Sex on tables, Swan Queen Week, Swan Queen Week Winter 2016, Top Emma, accidentally married, everyone ships SQ
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-23
Updated: 2017-06-30
Packaged: 2018-05-15 19:47:03
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 34,647
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5797474
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/queenssaviour/pseuds/queenssaviour
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><i> She just found it hard to believe Emma was getting married – to that loathsome pirate of all people. This whole trip was some ridiculous idea that included twelve women from Storybrooke taking a trip to the other side of the country for two days. She turned to glimpse at Emma who was looking out the window and not responding to her mother's excited chatter. Why were they even here?</i><br/> </p><p> </p><p>Three years have passed since 3x22. Emma and Regina are really good friends, but Emma is getting married to someone Regina doesn’t like very much. Emma isn’t too excited about the idea either.</p><p>Written for Swan Queen Week, Day Six: Envy</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! So basically this is a post season 3B story, but some stuff has still happened, such as Emma telling Regina she'll help her find her happy ending. More like post season 4A, but no Frozen stuff. (Also, there's no "Marian is Zelena" plot twist, because that was ridiculous, and both Marian and Zelena make an appearance, so I (obviously) changed some canon stuff.)
> 
> Many thanks to Ari (swanedmills on tumblr) and Mari (y'all know who she is) for helping me out and keeping me from making some terrible mistakes characterization-wise (I really hope I did okay) & thanks to Ari for beta reading this chapter!! <3

Regina wasn't sure how she'd ended up sitting in an overheated cab in Las Vegas between Snow White and Emma Swan. Snow was on her right side, buzzing with excitement because her daughter was getting married, and Emma, who was on her left, seemed rather distant like she had the entirety of the trip or every time someone mentioned her approaching nuptials.

Actually, Regina knew how she had ended up in her current situation, but she just found it hard to believe Emma was getting married – to that loathsome pirate of all people. This whole trip was some ridiculous idea that included twelve women from Storybrooke taking a trip to the other side of the country for two days. She turned to glimpse at Emma who was looking out the window and not responding to her mother's excited chatter. Why were they even here?

She blamed Snow for the whole thing. After Ruby had told her best friend she had always wanted to go to Vegas, Snow had jumped at the chance, wanting to make Emma's bachelorette party weekend an adventure. According to Emma, Snow and Ruby had planned the whole thing and asked for Emma's approval only just before getting the plane tickets and making room reservations. Emma had told Regina how she hadn't had the heart to tell either of them that she didn't want any big celebrations. Emma had stressed she wouldn't want Snow finding out this wasn't what she wanted, so Regina begrudgingly kept her mouth shut through the endless chatter. She knew Snow was just trying to be supportive, but the woman was failing miserably.

Regina closed her eyes and desperately tried to zone out to her happy place. She wondered what Henry was doing. It hadn't been easy for her to leave him behind, but Emma had pointed out Henry was fifteen already and more than capable of surviving a weekend without his mothers when he had his grandfather looking after him.

"So, I thought about doves for the ceremony after you've said 'I do' and are walking out. How does that sound?"

Snow's question pulled Regina out of her thoughts. _Doves?_   Seriously, sometimes she felt like Snow was trying too hard to make up for the years she didn't have with Emma that she failed to realize who Emma actually was. Besides,  _she_ was Emma's maid of honor, yet Snow kept acting like she was in charge of everything.

"Yeah, doves sound great," Emma responded with little enthusiasm as she kept looking out the window. It made her sad Emma had completely given up on making this _her_ wedding, which made Regina fight the urge to ask why Emma was even doing this.

Unfortunately, it wasn't really her place to ask that question. She had been the one to say there couldn't be anything between them on a drunken night that had included some fervent kissing until realization had hit them and Emma had left Regina's mansion faster than ever before. Neither of them had spoken about that night since.

Sometimes she wished Emma would admit she felt something for her, but mostly she thought it would just make everything harder. There couldn't be anything between them, no matter what they felt.

Regina knew she was much better for Emma as her friend. Co-parent. Drinking buddy. Her maid of honor, apparently, although it seemed that Snow was the one planning everything because Regina wanted to do things a simpler way, a more Emma way. Regina knew she could get her way if she really wanted to, but her heart wasn't in it.

She still didn't think Hook was the right person for Emma. Emma Swan deserved the best and all the happiness in the world, yet she seemed anything but happy about both her bachelorette party and her upcoming wedding. It wasn't right.

Regina wanted Emma to find her happy ending, like Emma had helped her to find hers. It had taken her a while to realize that her happy ending had been in front of her all along: Henry made her happy like no one else. Who said her happy ending had to be a soulmate that pixie dust had led her to three decades ago? She made her own destiny.

She just wished Emma would make hers, too, but it wasn't really her place to say anything since her curse had mapped out Emma's destiny. And then there was the pang of anger and envy whenever she saw Emma together with her fiancé, which made her biased. She still couldn't believe Hook had somehow managed to "pull down Emma's walls," as he had once put it. Why was that pirate any better than she was? Why had he gained the trust of Emma's family instantly after leaving Regina to be tortured and sailing away when it had taken Regina years to come even close to redeeming herself?

Regina sighed loudly, which seemed to have more of an effect on Emma than Snow's chatter.

"You okay?" Emma asked, which finally caused Snow to stop talking.

"Yes, I…" Regina started, but knew it was useless to claim she was alright since Emma could tell when she was lying. "Just thinking about Henry." Well, that wasn't a complete lie. She missed their son so much already.

Emma turned on her seat to look at Regina. "Look," Emma started. "Henry will be okay. We'll call him after he gets off from school, okay?"

Regina eventually raised her gaze to Emma. She was looking at her so with so much encouragement in her eyes that it was actually killing her. Why couldn't things be different? She could've just told Emma what a ridiculous idea her marrying Hook was. Emma seemed to be more interested in Regina's well-being than her own wedding.

"Alright, yes, let's do that," Regina replied, trying to manage a smile as she spoke.

Emma kept looking at her, not entirely convinced, but smiling anyway. She shifted back to her original sitting position, but grabbed Regina's hand in hers in the process. It came so naturally Regina almost didn't notice it at first, but then Emma started drawing soothing circles on her palm with her thumb, which made Regina wonder just how well Emma knew and understood her.

She was still glad Emma didn't seem to read her like an open book all the time or otherwise the other woman would've realized she wanted to tell her not to marry Hook and just… marry her instead. The situation was so ridiculous Regina had a hard time admitting it to herself, but being around Emma made a warm feeling that had been spared for only a scarce amount of people in her life spread through her chest.

She was pulled back from her thoughts once again by Snow clearing her throat. She could feel Emma's hold on her hand tighten, even though she didn't otherwise show her mother's effect on her.

"It's almost 1PM, so I think we should get lunch first. How does that sound?" Snow asked a bit tentatively.

"Yeah, let's do that," Emma replied. Her voice momentarily had some of its old excitement back at the mention of food, and she shot Regina a small smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to let me know what you think/if you're interested in the idea of the fic! Kudoses/comments keep me writing :)


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! It's been 84 years... I'm back, though, so I hope at least some of you still have interest in this story! I've been feeling pretty crappy about my writing, plus uni, work & personal life have kept me busy.
> 
> Thanks to my beta, Ari (swanedmills on tumblr)!

Las Vegas was much more… everything than Regina had imagined. She had seen the city on television and in pictures more than once, but the heat, the amount of people, and the size of the glamorous buildings were like nothing she was used to. She had visited New York and Boston in this realm, but they had been very different from this city.

The awe the city brought her to was still secondary to everything else, everything else being Emma Swan. As they got off of their cab and met up with Zelena, Ruby, and the seven other women attending Emma's bachelorette party, Emma went back to playing her almost-convincing happy bride-to-be role. Did this really convince everyone that she wanted to get married? Regina was growing frustrated. Didn't these people — who called themselves Emma's friends and family — know her at all?

Regina soon found out that she would be sharing a room with Emma, which was just typical, really.

"I'll be staying in the same room as Snow," Ruby announced at the front desk of Mirage hotel.

"And Emma will be in one with her beloved bestie… That's you, Regina," Zelena continued. 

After that, Regina didn't know who was sharing a room with whom, but that was just because she didn't honestly care that much. Emma's relieved face when the roommates had been announced had taken her attention away from everything else.

They agreed to meet up in 15 minutes for lunch after they would all have settled into their rooms. It turned out Ruby and Snow had actually done a very decent job with the hotel; Emma and Regina's spacious double-bed room had a big window overlooking a big pool. It was a sunny day, and Regina ached to change into something more weather-appropriate than her black pantsuit.

Emma seemed to be on the same page with her as she took off her red leather jacket and threw it on one of the beds before laying down on it herself.

"So, I guess that's your bed, then?" Regina asked, unable to suppress a smile.

"Well, I left you with the bed closer to the window so you can enjoy the view. I'm being very considerate," Emma replied, smirking back at her.

"Thank you," she said as she walked closer to Emma. "So, as unbecoming as I find your mother's urge to bring doves into your wedding and obsess over every single detail, I'd like to ask you why you were so relieved about sharing a room with me and not her or Ruby?"

Emma's smile faltered, which made Regina mentally kick herself for bringing up the topic. Emma hadn't smiled much all day, and now that she did, Regina had to go and ruin it.

"Well..." Emma sighed and closed her eyes before she spoke. "It's all just too much, I guess. I'm marrying him. I'm doing what I'm supposed to. Can't they all just give it a rest and let it be, I mean…"

Regina didn't get to hear what else was bothering Emma, because that was when Ruby walked into the room. Emma must've left the door open.

"Emma! You can't take a nap now. We'll be waiting for you downstairs," Ruby playfully scolded Emma as she walked further in. Regina fought the urge to tell Ruby to stop butting into her important conversations and to take herself for a walk, but she reminded herself she was a changed person and she wouldn't do that anymore.

"Yeah, sorry." Emma gave Ruby a sheepish smile as she sat up on the bed.

"You aren't having cold feet, are you, Emma?" Ruby continued a bit more seriously, and that was when Regina's phone rang. She was almost about to ignore the call, upset with anyone who dared to bother her in a moment like this, but then she saw Henry's name on the screen and picked it up as she walked into the hallway, leaving Emma and Ruby talk in the room.

"Henry. How are you?" Regina asked, having waited to talk with Henry all day to make sure he was still doing okay without his mothers around.

"Hi, mom. I'm fine. You need to stop worrying. You sound too worried," Henry replied. Regina could almost feel the teen roll his eyes.

"Well, I can't really help myself. I have a feeling Storybrooke will be under an attack while I'm gone and there's no one to protect you because Emma and I are here."

"It's fine, mom. Honestly. Have fun…" Henry replied, his last two words a bit uncertain.

"Henry, what's going on?"

"What? Nothing. I didn't say anything," Henry replied quickly, but Regina knew better than that.

"Henry Daniel Mills, tell me what's going on so I don't have to take the next plane there because you know I would." She hoped she could still get an answer out of Henry despite him being almost sixteen.

"It's just that…" Henry started uncertainly. "I feel like mom's not really happy about marrying Hook…"

Regina sighed. She wasn't the only one who saw it. Of course Henry would too. He had always been observant, and Regina knew that better than anyone else. "I know."

"You do?"

"Of course, but honestly, I don't think there's much I can do…" she continued.

"Yes, there is!" Henry said so loudly Regina had to remove her phone from her ear for a moment. "You can't let mom make a decision like this. She's not happy with it, so why should she marry Hook? I don't like it… If there's anyone who can tell her it's not a smart decision, it's you."

"Me?" Did Henry know more than she had originally thought? "Why me?"

"Because she actually listens to you. You're her friend, and… You're both my moms. You have to work it out… Wait, I've gotta go. Love you, mom," Henry finished and hung up.

"I love you too, Henry," Regina muttered to the silent phone line. She honestly didn't know what to make of Henry's call, but she felt like she should at least try to talk to Emma.

She soon learned their talk would have to wait. As she turned around, she almost bumped into Ruby who was dragging Emma out of their room.

"Emma?"

"Regina, do you wanna go to lunch already? Ruby wants me to go already, but I'll wait for you," Emma said just as her stomach grumbled loudly.

"You should go," Regina responded. "I'll catch up with you in a few minutes. I just need to change into something more suitable for this climate. I'll meet you downstairs. Just text me the name of the restaurant."


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi. I'm done with my studies (for now), so I'm back. This chapter is kinda short, but the two following chapters should be longer, and I should be able to update more often.
> 
> Ari passed her beta role over to Tris, so thanks to Tris for beta reading this chapter!
> 
> To those who started reading this when I first posted the first two chapters, I've made some small changes (Regina is Emma's maid of honor and Zelena is in Vegas with them), but nothing major. They're still in Vegas, Emma's still unhappy, Regina's still pining for her, etc.

The lunch went as Regina had expected. They talked about the wedding and their plans for the night while enjoying the offerings of one of the large buffets downstairs. She had a hard time trying to concentrate on the food and the conversation, though, since she was growing more and more worried about Emma's well-being. Even though her friend seemed to enjoy the food, she seemed highly uncomfortable in her current position.

Snow was currently narrating the story of how Hook had kept proposing and suggesting marriage repeatedly before Emma had finally said yes, which made Regina fight to keep her food down.

"Emma said she didn't want to get married and that we just should stop pushing the subject, but I'm glad Killian never did! They seem so happy together," Snow said, close to tears of joy, while Emma looked awkward at best. "And I'm just so happy that Emma finally found True Love and is finally getting married! And maybe there will be more additions to the family soon, who knows?"

"Mom, I already have a kid," Emma muttered and took a sip of her drink.

"Sorry, Emma. I didn't want to get ahead of myself. I'm just so happy you have finally found what your father and I have," Snow beamed.

Snow continued talking about marriage as if that was everyone's ultimate goal in life. There were some nods and murmurs going around the table, apart from Mulan, Marian, Kathryn, and a mimosa-sipping Zelena, who were all staring at Regina with curiosity in their eyes.

Regina wasn't enjoying the lunch one bit. She didn't feel like listening to the fairly cringeworthy story that romanticized a man who just couldn't take a no for an answer, so she excused herself and went to look for a restroom. She soon found herself sitting on a small white couch in the brightly-lit bathroom, unable to go back to the buffet. What was she even doing there with all these people? It had been almost five years since the curse had been broken, and while some people had taken her into their lives, Regina still felt like an outsider in the group.

 _Emma,_ she thought. That's who she was there for. They were friends, and Emma wanted her to be there.

She pulled her phone out of her purse, planning to call Henry to take her mind off everything. Her fingers stopped their movement before she got that far, her phone background catching her attention. It was a picture of Emma and Henry on a day they had gone to a nearby fair across the town line a few months ago. Even in her current grumpy state, the picture still made her smile.

Her trip down the memory lane was interrupted when Marian entered the bathroom.

"Hey, Regina. You alright?" Marian asked her when she saw her. She looked at Regina expectantly as she approached the wide mirror on the opposite wall.

"Yes, I'm fine," Regina replied as she put her phone back into her purse. She and Marian had become unexpected friends after Marian, Robin, and Roland had left for New York. One day, Marian had called Regina to ask her for help, and after that, they had eventually struck a friendship that had lasted longer than the cohabitation of Marian and Robin.

"You sure? Kathryn and I thought you looked pretty done with… everything," Marian pointed out.

Regina rolled her eyes as she got up and went to fix her makeup in front of the mirror, too. She was still getting used to having friends (well, friends that weren't Emma) who were concerned about her.

"Yes, I'm sure. Just a bit tired…" Regina continued as she fixed her crimson lipstick. "So, what's the plan for the night?"

"Well, we talked about that more while you were gone, and first, we're going to get some drinks at the bar downstairs and celebrate together, and then we're either all going to check out Caesar's Palace or divide ourselves into small groups and do whatever we'd like."

"I see," Regina replied as she put her lipstick back into her purse.

"I'm thinking we'll probably end up in small groups since we don't all have the same interests. Granny and Zelena were really looking forward to going to the casino, but Belle wants to go to the theater. Aurora and Ashley wanted to take a look at Margaritaville and Snow and Ruby may be joining them… " Marian waved her hand to the direction of the Strip. "They had a whole itinerary for tomorrow, though. Kathryn may be coming with Mulan and I, or maybe Belle… We thought about going to the Stratosphere tower tonight, especially if no one wants to go there tomorrow as a group. It's a bit farther away."

"What about Emma?" Regina asked before she could stop herself. She should've asked what the deal with Marian and Mulan spending so much time together was, but she didn't know how to approach the topic. Shortly after Marian and Robin had separated, Mulan had moved to New York, and as far as Regina knew, the two women had just been living together for convenience, but now that she had seen Marian and Mulan arrive to greet them at the airport in Vegas, she wasn't so sure anymore.

"Oh, she just said she'll ask you what you wanna do," Marian said as she shook her head. She seemed far too amused for Regina's liking.

"I see," Regina said. "Should we join the others?"

"Yeah, I'll be right there. I just need to use the bathroom first. You can go ahead if you'd like," Marian responded with a smile.

Regina wanted to avoid whatever conversation Marian would probably bring up about Emma, so she left the bathroom and walked back to their table through the large room.

"Regina, would you be a dear and come to the bar later with us?" Ruby asked her with a mischievous smirk in her eyes. Her expression was mirrored by Zelena, who was sitting next to her and playing with the straw of her drink. "Emma doesn't seem to want to go without you."

Regina didn't like Ruby's amused tone, but she decided to ignore it and turned to Emma instead. "Do you want to go?"

"Um, Emma replied uncertainly. "Sure. Do you wanna go?"

"Yes, of course," Regina responded, even though spending the evening with Snow and Ruby when both of them were gushing about the upcoming wedding wasn't exactly what she wanted to do.

"Great!" Snow responded. "We'll meet up at six."


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Many thanks to Tris again for beta reading! All remaining mistakes are mine.
> 
> Oh, and the Marian/Mulan pairing (not really in this chapter, but I forgot to mention it earlier) was inspired by amycarey's stories tbh. (You all should read those if you haven't already.)

After their late lunch at the buffet, they all went back to their rooms, each having different plans for the time before they'd meet up for drinks. Snow had reminded them they'd all have to spend time together as a group before any possible splitting up, convincing everyone else other than Zelena and Granny. The latter said she didn't have time for drinks when she had renovation money for the diner to win at the casino, whereas Zelena had made it clear from the start that she was in Vegas so Granny could teach her how to gamble. Regina secretly admired Granny and her sister's capability to escape group activities.

"So, what do you want to do on your big night out?" Regina asked Emma when the other woman stepped out of the bathroom drying her blonde hair on a white hotel towel.

Emma had wrapped herself in another identical towel, and Regina tried her hardest not to stare at her. It would've been highly inappropriate; she couldn't think about Emma that way when Emma deserved so much better than her. Emma most likely didn't reciprocate her feelings (or was at least adamant on not admitting them) since she was getting _married_ to the pirate.

Regina turned her gaze to the big flat-screen television. She needed to stop being inappropriate. There was a limit. She was Emma's _maid of honor_ now.

"Well, I guess I'll just do whatever they wanna do," Emma responded with little enthusiasm in her voice as she sat on the bed next to Regina.

The indifference in Emma's voice caught Regina off guard. The lunch seemed to have made her even more apathetic. For the umpteenth time, Regina fought the urge to ask why Emma was marrying Hook in the first place, but it wasn't her place to go there.

"So, is there anything you'd like to do tonight?" Emma asked, her voice a bit lighter.

Regina turned her gaze away from the television and finally looked at Emma. There was a smile on her lips that was for some reason reserved just for her. She couldn't even remember Emma genuinely smiling at anyone else all day. She looked so beautiful, her face scrubbed off from makeup and _no_. This is what she was not supposed to be thinking about.

"I guess not. I'll just sit in the back and be your drinking buddy whenever you need me." Regina put emphasis on drinking buddy and smirked at Emma, which pulled a small laugh from her.

_Emma was so beautiful when she laughed._

"Okay, I'm glad to hear you're on board. You have to let me know if you wanna go anywhere and wanna ditch the party, because I'm in."

* * *

"Regina, Zelena is here!" she could hear Emma's voice call her as she got out of the shower twenty minutes later.

Regina couldn't help but to raise her brow. This was unexpected. She'd assumed her sister was at the casino by now, learning how to gamble from Granny.

(She was happy that Granny, who was known for her gambling skills online, had agreed to take Zelena under her wing during their stay and teach her how to gamble. When Zelena had first learned how to use a computer during her first few months in Regina's house, she had ended up losing three thousand dollars of Regina's money on online poker without realizing what she had really gotten herself into. Now, she was ready to win back all the lost money, although Regina had made it clear she wouldn't have to.)

"Just a second," she replied before pulling on a soft white bathrobe and getting out of the bathroom.

"Hello, sis," Zelena said from the door and flashed her a smile. She was wearing a rather atrocious green glittery dress that Regina wouldn't have been caught dead in.

"Hey," she replied. "How come aren't you at the casino already?"

"Do I need a reason to come greet my baby sister?" Zelena said, rolling her eyes. Regina still knew there was more to her visit, even though they had actually become rather close during the last three years, both of them getting used to the idea of having a sister and Zelena abandoning most of her evil schemes.

Regina found it nice to have Zelena on the trip. She didn't feel quite as alone in a group of people who were labeled as fairytale heroes in her son's book.

"Actually, I was wondering if we could talk before I go... It's rather urgent," Zelena added apologetically.

"Yes, of course. Go ahead," she answered.

"In private," Zelena said, her gaze moving to the bed where Emma was sitting. Regina followed her sister's line of sight, only to find Emma gazing nowhere, or possibly at Regina's back, before she realized Zelena was talking to her.

"I'm sorry. What?" Emma said, jolting up from the bed and looking at Zelena.

"I was going to ask you if I could have a short moment alone with my sister. We really need to talk." Zelena tilted her head.

"Oh yeah, I needed to check on… Mulan, anyway. See you," Emma replied quickly and left the room wearing nothing but a robe and puffy hotel slippers.

"Did you just chase Emma out of her own hotel room?" Regina inquired after she was sure Emma couldn't hear them anymore. She shook her head as she started unpacking.

"Look, I'm sorry, Regina, but I really need to talk to you about Emma," Zelena said, her tone serious.

That certainly got Regina's attention. She turned to her sister, her baggage completely forgotten. "What about Emma?"

"Well," Zelena started as she finally walked into the room and closed the door behind her. "I've been meaning to tell you something. You see, I don't think Emma should marry the… dashing groom-to-be." She tried to mimic the pirate's hook with her hand when she mentioned the man. "And then I got a message from Henry…"

"What?" she said louder than necessary. There wasn't anything weird about Henry texting Zelena – the two got along well now – but the fact that it was something Zelena thought she would have to discuss with Regina was worrisome.

"Oh, he's fine." Zelena waved her hand. She lowered her tone before looking Regina in the eye. "He's just worried about his mothers, and he's not the only one."

"I'm fine," Regina said, but she was starting to see where this conversation was going.

"But you'd agree Emma is not, am I correct?"

Regina sighed as she sat on her bed. "Yes."

"Yes. You see, Henry and I think this marriage isn't a particularly smart decision. I'm not saying I'm… any sort of expert on _feelings_ or marriage, but it appears to me Emma isn't happy about getting married even though she should be." Zelena shrugged.

"Where are you going with this?"

"Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but you're in love with Emma," Zelena stated like she was talking about the weather.

"Excuse me?" It wasn't that Zelena wasn't right, but bringing the matter up was incredibly unexpected, and she'd been trying to hide her feelings. She had thought she'd succeeded, but apparently she hadn't. "Did Henry put you up to this?"

"Oh, dear sis. No. This is me, although I admit your son's texts gave me an extra nudge. I have to do _something_ ," she insisted like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "I can't let my sister's bestie slash gal pal marry that idiot when she's obviously in love with her and the feeling's mutual. I may have been wicked, but I'm not heartless."

Regina was unsure how to respond. She wondered if it'd be smarter to deny everything or agree with Zelena. Her sister knew the truth about her feelings, but there was nothing she could do.

She decided to go with the latter option. What was the point of lying at this point, anyway? They were on the same side now. Zelena was her sister.

"I… I'm not what Emma wants. I'm not what she deserves. She deserves so much better than what I could ever give her."

Zelena studied her quietly before almost gasping, "You're… serious, aren't you?" She shook her head, red curls bouncing as her painted lips formed a tight line. "That is ridiculous, Regina. What about what you told me about second chances and creating my own destiny? Why wouldn't you be allowed to do that now? You could easily make Emma happier than that pirate ever could. You _are_ currently making her happier than he is. Why on earth can't you see that?"

Regina shook her head. Someone else actually saying the things she hoped she would be able to believe made her overwhelmed. She knew she made Emma smile when no one else did. She knew there was something special between them. She knew there wasn't a reason why she couldn't have romantic love in her life again. She knew all these things, yet she still thought she couldn't actually go through telling Emma any of it.

"I… She made her decision," she simply replied.

"For Christ's sake, Regina," Zelena groaned as she sat on the bed next to her. "She's honestly so lost she doesn't even understand what you feel for her. Unless you actually tell her, she will never do anything about it. She looks at you like a lovesick puppy without realizing that her feelings are mutual."

"Have you considered that maybe she just sees me as a friend?" Regina tried one of the usual comebacks she used when having an inner debate with herself.

Zelena's mouth gaped open before she let out a sarcastic laugh. "Ha! You must be joking. There's no way. Don't you know how friends look at each other?"

"Well, to be honest, I've never had that many," Regina shrugged.

"Neither have I, sis, but I have eyes. I have been looking at you two dance around this for years, and it'll honestly drive me crazy if you don't end up together." Zelena sighed wistfully. "I may have to kill someone."

"You will do no such thing," Regina said, her voice more stern. "And there's nothing I can do at this point. It's too late."

"I won't, but you know how it is. It's tempting." Zelena sighed again.

Regina rolled her eyes, fighting tears as Zelena put an arm around her shoulders. How did they even get to this point?

"And as to "it's too late" well, it most certainly isn't," Zelena continued. "She obviously doesn't want to get married, and no one's said "I do" yet, so you still have time."

Regina felt a tear rolling down her cheek, but she couldn't be bothered to brush it away. She couldn't be bothered to do anything. The things Zelena kept saying awakened hope inside her, her mind conjuring up scenarios where Emma would in fact leave Hook and they'd end up together instead. _Stupid, stupid, stupid._

"So, as your big sister, what I suggest you do is you talk to Emma, and tell her how you feel," Zelena explained. As if it were that simple. "What's the worst thing that can happen?"

Regina scoffed.

"Okay, so let's say she still won't break up with Hook and she says she doesn't feel that way about you," Zelena shrugged, "which is a complete lie, of course. At least you tried and gave her a chance to choose something else. Honestly, Regina. You two survived you trying to poison her but ending up poisoning your shared son instead. I think you've gone through worse times."

Regina shrugged. That was one way to look at it.

Zelena's phone beeped before Regina got a chance to reply. "It's Granny," she said after pulling the phone out of her tiny green purse. "She says she won't wait for me forever and that _time is money_ , so I guess I ought to go." Zelena gave Regina's shoulder a little squeeze before standing up.

"Good luck, and… Make smart choices," Regina said, wondering if Zelena would actually win any money at the casino.

"Always." Zelena smirked before her expression turned more serious. "And you… Talk to Emma. I mean it. I want to be able to say "I told you so.""

"I'll see what I can do," Regina replied, unsure about what she'd actually say to Emma.

Zelena shook her head as she made her way to the door. "I mean it. If you don't, I will."

"What?" she barked. She wouldn't have Zelena meddling with her love life. Or Emma's.

"Ta-ta," Zelena quipped quickly before fleeing out of the door, leaving bathrobe-clad Regina alone with her thoughts.

* * *

A few hours later, Regina glanced at Emma in the elevator mirror. Even though Emma wasn't excited about the party, she had actually put on a red dress, which was unlike her in the first place. Then again, so was the whole trip as well as the wedding. Her hair was styled in similar curls it had been when she had first arrived in Storybrooke, and Regina felt a pang of nostalgia just looking at her.

Regina herself was dressed in a dark blue sleeveless RED Valentino dress that reached just above her knees. To complete her look, she was wearing a pair of Jimmy Choos that matched her dress, but despite her well-put-together demeanour, she felt nervous. This was Emma's bachelorette party. It was getting threateningly close to a wedding, and Emma seemed to be getting less and less excited.

Emma still gave her a small smile when they reached the second floor where they were supposed to meet up with everyone else. As they entered the bar, Regina spotted Mulan, Marian, Kathryn, and Ashley sitting at a big table reserved for them. The rest of their group had yet to show up.

"I'm really happy for Marian and Mulan," she heard Emma state next to her.

"Marian and Mulan?" she repeated. It wasn't like she hadn't thought about it herself now, the last time earlier that day when she had been talking with Marian, but there had never been anything explicit to show the two women were anything more than friends.

"Yeah, I mean they look really happy together. It's a nice change since I was used to seeing Mulan pining for Aurora and everything, but now she seems to have found Marian. I think that's great."

"Yes, well," Regina replied, unsure how to respond. "How can you be sure?"

Emma laughed. "How can you not, really? They are inseparable and have been living together ever since Mulan moved to New York… Haven't you talked about this with Marian?"

Their conversation was interrupted by Ruby showing up behind them, Belle and Aurora on her heels. Ruby had gone all out with her outfit; her short red dress and high heels stole attention from her company.

"I think we're all settled," Ruby said, excitement clear on her face. "I left because Snow was expecting a phone call from David, but she'll come here soon."

They sat down and started talking. Ruby put a crown on Emma's head and a big sash that read "bachelorette" over her shoulder. At Emma's frown, she finally asked, "Too much?"

Regina wondered if the upcoming copious amounts of alcohol would finally make her loosen her tongue enough to let her give everyone a piece of her mind. They couldn't possibly think Emma was enjoying this, could they? There was a difference between simply having cold feet and not wanting to get married. She had been forced to marry someone she didn't want to, and she wouldn't let the same happen to Emma.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I rewrote this chapter 3 times because I couldn't decide what I wanted to do... I hope it's still (somewhat) consistent anyway. I know it could be better tbh, but I honestly need to publish this chapter and move on with the story. (+ I hope the amounts of alcohol they drink make sense, because I get drunk so easily I honestly never know. I tried.)
> 
> Thanks to Tris again for beta reading, and thanks to Mari for helping me out with characterization in general. I'm super grateful <3

_Regina. Can we talk?_

_It's important. Could you stop by before the party? Alone?_

Regina stared at the words on her phone screen for a while before deciding that such a serious message from Snow on a night like this shouldn't go unanswered. She turned to take a glimpse at Emma who was talking with Mulan and smiling for a change. Ordering drinks had made her lighten up a bit.

She brushed Emma's arm to turn her attention to her, which caused the other woman to look at Regina straight away, her smile never leaving her lips.

"Regina, what's up?" Emma asked.

"Your mother needs help with something," she replied as truthfully as she could, trying to return the smile, so she wouldn't make Emma worry over nothing. "I'll be back shortly."

Emma furrowed her brow, but seemed to be happy with Regina's explanation for now since she soon turned back to Mulan as Regina made her way out of the bar.

As she waited for the elevator to take her upstairs, she noticed her palms were sweating. What could be wrong? She was starting to feel uncertain about going upstairs alone since she didn't have her magic. What if someone had taken Snow's phone and was trying to lure her upstairs?

She shook her head. She couldn't think like this.

She made her way to the 18th floor and didn't notice anything that looked out of the ordinary. As she opened the door to Snow and Ruby's room, she found the pixie-haired woman sitting on her bed. Snow looked different from the way she had been at lunch, her brow scrunched and her arms crossed.

"Snow. What's wrong?" Regina asked carefully, knowing that something was bothering the other woman. She walked further into the room and sat on a chair near Snow's bed so that they would face each other.

"I talked to Emma," Snow started, her eyes meeting Regina's but her brow still furrowed.

"When?" Regina demanded. It couldn't have been at lunch. Snow had been over the moon then. Something had definitely happened after lunch.

"After lunch. I ran into her in the hallway. She told me Zelena was in your room," Snow raised her voice in the end of the sentence, making it almost a question.

Regina simply nodded. Emma hadn't mentioned a conversation with her mother, although she had seemed a bit more grumpy than usual. Regina had simply thought it had been because of the wedding.

"So, she didn't seem very excited about her bachelorette party. In fact, she hasn't seemed happy about this wedding in general." Snow looked very sad. "And at first I just thought it was cold feet or her being nervous, or maybe her not liking all the attention… But I tried to cheer on and be supportive so maybe she'd become excited and happy too, but… I don't think it's True Love."

"And why is that?" Regina asked. She was certain Emma and the pirate didn't share True Love, but she still wanted to hear what Snow was thinking.

"I asked Emma why she wasn't happier. She's getting married after all. I asked why she wasn't happy to marry the love of her life, and she just replied..." Snow tried to hold back tears. "She said that not everyone can find True Love the same way David and I can and that we should stop expecting to know what she wants."

"Hmm. Then what happened?" Regina asked calmly while Snow was crying already.

"She snapped at me," Snow sniffed. "She said that I should just be happy that she's getting married in the first place. Then she just… _left._ " Snow looked at Regina, desperation clear in her eyes as she put her hand on Regina's. "I don't think she's doing this marriage for herself at all."

Well, she couldn't really argue with that logic. Snow White had finally understood where her daughter stood on her upcoming wedding. It was about time.

She had been so angry with Snow during the past few weeks, but the fact that the woman was now trying to see Emma's point of view and admitted she'd been wrong made Regina's anger subside a little.

"Do you think she's actually still gonna go through with the wedding?" Snow asked uncertainly before pulling her hand back.

"What?"

"I was just wondering… She shouldn't. It's not True Love. Where will Emma find it now?"

"This may come as a surprise to you, Snow, but finding True Love may not be the first thing in Emma's mind," Regina replied and fought the urge to roll her eyes. Snow could be so naïve, even after everything she'd been through. "She doesn't need another person to be complete. She has her son and her family. Maybe you should concentrate on that and let her be herself." Regina stopped talking when she saw the expression on Snow's face become puzzled, like she was trying to figure out some hidden meaning behind Regina's words. "What?"

"Oh, nothing, Regina. I'm just so glad Emma has you," Snow said matter-of-factly and shrugged, but Regina knew there was more to it.

She felt too tired to play this game with Snow, so she decided to find out what she was up to later. Emma came first.

"Do you want to go talk to her about this?" Regina asked. "She's downstairs."

"I think…" Snow started a little meekly as she fidgeted with the sleeve of her sweater. It was white, and it had ugly colorful birds on it. "I think you should talk to her."

"Me?" Regina felt surprised. She thought Snow would've liked to comfort Emma in a moment like this and tell her about the True Love that was still waiting out there because, well, in Snow's world, it simply _had to be._ "What about you?"

"You two have a special… connection. You'll know what to say. I have no idea… I have no idea how to comfort my own daughter." Snow's lower lip was quivering.

She almost replied by pointing out Snow wouldn't know if she didn't try, but Regina wanted to be there for Emma, too. Since she knew she could do the job better than Snow, she patted Snow's arm and left the room, leaving a wistful Snow White behind.

* * *

Regina made her way through the relatively packed bar and quickly spotted Emma's curls bouncing at the counter where she was talking with the bartender. Mulan had disappeared somewhere, but Emma (who was surprisingly still wearing her crown) seemed fine as she downed a shot that the bartender gave her. Emma noticed her reaching the counter before she could even say anything, her head turning to Regina's direction and a wide smile breaking over her face when green eyes met Regina's.

"Emma…" Regina started seriously. She couldn't believe she was actually going to have a conversation about Emma leaving Hook on the night of the other woman's bachelorette party. The fear that asking Emma this question would become about her own feelings had stopped her before, but after talking with Snow and Zelena, she knew she wasn't alone in this. She knew this wouldn't be about her anymore, no matter how much she wanted to take Hook's place. This was something she had to do for all of them. This was about Emma being happy.

"Regina." Emma's smile faltered as her eyes scanned Regina's face. "What's wrong?"

"I just talked with your mother."

"What, problem with the doves?" Emma smirked, but her smile disappeared again when Regina couldn't manage to smile back at her. "Okay, Regina, seriously, what happened?"

"I…" Regina decided the bar wasn't the best place to have this conversation, and she put her hand on Emma's wrist. "We should talk about this somewhere less crowded."

"It's not even crowded," Emma argued, but followed her anyway after gulping down the remnants of the beer she had ordered earlier.

They made their way towards the spacious but surprisingly empty bathroom. There was a small couch facing the stalls, and Regina let go of Emma's wrist as she sat down and waited for Emma to follow her.

"Do you really want to be married to Hook?" she blurted out. She had imagined this conversation so many times in her head, almost certain she'd never actually talk to Emma about this, but there she was, trying to talk Emma out of her marriage. She really needed Emma to realize it was not her obligation to marry someone just because she was expected to. Emma had been through so much in her life and she deserved a lot more than that.

"Regina…" Emma said, her gaze scanning the walls of the bathroom instead of looking at Regina. She was fidgeting with the hem of her dress and seemed highly uncomfortable.

"Emma, I just really need you to realize what you're doing here," she started.

"I…" Emma started. She exhaled loudly and closed her eyes. "I don't want to be married to him. The whole thought just… I honestly wish I could just call it off , but everyone's expecting me to…" Emma's voice faded away. "You can't tell anyone."

Regina really wanted to hug Emma, but instead she brought her hand to Emma's, waiting for her to look at her before she spoke. "You should never do anything you don't want to do… It's not your obligation to make someone else happy by getting married. You should get married because you want to get married. And no one would judge you for calling off the wedding."

"Regina…" Emma said slowly, her eyes searching Regina's again. "I can't believe _you_ are talking me out of marrying Killian…"

Regina waited Emma to continue, but the other woman stayed silent.

"What do you mean?" she asked, afraid to hear the answer but too curious not to ask.

"I can't say," Emma almost whispered, her hand moving to Regina's cheekbone to stroke it.

This was bad. This was so bad and not at all what Regina had planned. Emma's unspoken words and body language suggested Zelena was right. It took her all her willpower to take Emma's hand in hers and gently move it between them before asking, "So, what's your plan? Are you going to call Hook now or...?"

Emma pulled back with a sharp intake of breath, finally seeming to realize the situation she was in. "Oh. Right. That." She brought her free hand to her temple and avoided Regina's gaze. "Yeah, I guess I should do that. It's only 10 PM or something there, right?" she continued as her other hand broke free from Regina's and she started rummaging her purse in search of her cell phone.

After a while, they were sitting on the couch in silence, Emma looking at her phone screen and Regina looking at Emma.

"I can't," Emma said. "I don't know how."

"Emma," Regina said as she took Emma's free hand in hers again. "I didn't have the chance to get out from marrying Snow's father, but you have a chance to get out from this. Take it. Don't marry someone you don't want to marry."

Emma turned her gaze away from the phone screen and regarded Regina with unsure eyes.

"Do you want to marry Hook?" she asked again.

"No," Emma replied quietly. "When did I ever, really? I just… Did it because everyone expected me to and it seemed easy enough. He's trying and he loves me. He traded his ship for me."

Regina let out a deep sigh before talking. "Emma. If someone does something for you, you say thank you. You don't owe them anything." She finally felt like she could speak her mind now that her words wouldn't selfishly affect Emma's choice to get married.

"Don't you think I know that? I do…" Emma's face scrunched up in drunken thought. "It's just that he was so… Persistent. I just felt like I had to give it a shot. I got into the situation, and I never found a big enough reason to break up with him. And my mom and everyone was so happy I had found love, but still... falling in love should be different. Falling in love is different."

There was an awkward silence between once again. Regina mentally rolled her eyes, starting to become more convinced that maybe, just maybe, Zelena had it right. She quickly changed the topic. "Your mother just wants you to be happy, Emma."

"She thinks that equals me finding 'True Love'," Emma said, making quotation marks with her fingers at the mention of True Love, which was, well, so Emma. The child of True Love making fun of True Love because she hadn't been raised in the Enchanted Forest. Emma's indifference towards the whole matter was endearing.

"Your mother talked to me before I came here," she pointed out. "She was upset because she finally realized you aren't happy about getting married and you were never going to be. I can assure you, she only wants what's best for you. She just needs to accept it's not the same thing for you as it is for her."

"Wait," Emma said after a while, realization dawning on her face. "Did my mom put you up to this?"

"No, not really," Regina answered truthfully. "Well, she told me to talk to you because she thought I'd know how, but I've wanted to have this talk ever since that pirate put that stupid ring on your finger. The words are all mine."

Emma shook her head, her expression turning from uncertain to amused. "It must've taken you so much self-restraint to keep quiet this long."

Regina shrugged. "A fair amount, yes."

"Look, I'm… going to make a phone call. I really can't postpone this anymore, can I?" Emma asserted, her brow scrunched and her voice hollow as she ran her fingers through her blonde locks. "I should talk to him."

"I'll give you some privacy," she said as she stood up. As much as she wanted to witness Emma calling off the wedding, it really wasn't her place.

Emma looked at her as if she didn't want her to leave but still nodded at her before Regina left the bathroom.

* * *

Regina tried not to think about the phone conversation Emma was currently having as she made her way through the bar. She first ran into Marian and Mulan, both of whom were walking towards the restroom.

"Regina," Marian greeted her. "Where's Emma?"

"She's…" Regina started, wondering how she should respond. "She's making a very important phone call in the bathroom, so I think we should all just give her a few moments."

Marian looked from Regina to Mulan, her gaze obviously conveying something she wasn't saying out loud, and then she turned back to Regina. "Okay."

"Okay," Regina repeated. She didn't want to play any games tonight.

"So, are you ever gonna tell me what's the deal here? How can you just watch Emma marry him?" Marian queried. Regina realized only then that Marian had probably had a few drinks.

"Not you too," Regina muttered. She knew Marian had wanted to say something earlier in the bathroom, but hearing her friend give her the same speech as Zelena had only two hours ago would be too much.

"I'm serious," Marian continued. "Half this group wants you to end up together anyway."

"More like everyone," Mulan quipped.

"Yes, all of Storybrooke, probably," Marian smirked.

"Oh, for fuck's sake," Regina scoffed before leaving the two women alone to smirk at each other in the middle of the room. She soon found Ruby who was in the middle of downing a shot.

"Regina!" Ruby shrieked. How long had she been in the bathroom? Her conversations with Emma and Snow couldn't have taken her even an hour, yet everyone was suddenly drunk or at least tipsy.

"Ruby. Have you seen Snow?"

"Oh, she texted me. She said she'd be talking with David and she'd talk to me after that," she said as she bent over the table to reach something. "She told me we could start the party already. Jello shot?"

Regina examined the drink Ruby was holding for a moment before grabbing it and draining it in one go. It had been a long day.

"So, Snow told me you two talked. Did you talk to Emma?"

Was there anyone here who didn't have questions about Emma? This was getting ridiculous.

"Yes, we talked," Regina answered as Ruby offered her another shot. "You should tell Snow it's fine. I did everything she asked me to do."

Ruby flashed her a genuine yet slightly drunk smile. "Great. I'm glad to hear that... Hey, speak of the devil."

Regina turned around and was faced with the sight of a highly upset Emma. The woman bumped into someone while trying to get to Regina through the room.

"Regina," Emma uttered when she was close enough. "Can we talk?"

"Of course," she replied. She nodded at Ruby who was looking at Emma with a worried frown before they walked into the hallway.

"So, I talked with Killian," Emma started, not meeting Regina's eyes once again.

"And?" she said, unsure what would come next.

"He said I wasn't _everything he had expected, anyway._ That there was darkness inside me and that he didn't really want to get married... I agree doing this over the phone wasn't very classy, but I was running out of time, and..." Emma was struggling to get her next words out, tears welling in her eyes. "He said no one would ever love me like he did anyway and that I'd always wind up alone... So yeah, it's definitely over."

Regina felt a surge of rage rise inside her. How dare that pirate? Why couldn't he just take the rejection like an adult? How could he say those things to Emma? Emma had surely said nothing as terrible to earn any of those insults.

"He didn't love you the right way, anyway," Regina said as she wrapped her arms tentatively around Emma. "You don't say things like that when you love someone."

"Yeah," Emma mumbled into the hug, her arms reaching around Regina's back. "Thank you, Regina. He's a self-centered idiot. I shouldn't have agreed to marry him in the first place. I can't believe I went through so much for him."

"You're so much better than him. He could regret his words for a hundred years and he still wouldn't deserve you. He never did. No one does." Regina pulled back slightly to look at Emma and was met with an eye roll. "You deserve someone who understands you and respects you and makes you happy."

"I… I kinda know that…" Emma said as she put her chin on Regina's shoulder. Her voice turned quieter and Regina had to work to hear what she was saying. "But at the same time, this voice in the back of my head tells me I don't deserve those things and no one will ever want me for me and stay anyway. It's just always been like this."

Regina felt a pang of guilt in her stomach. She knew Emma felt this way because of her childhood in the foster system, no one wanting her and everyone eventually sending her away. She felt terrible knowing that Emma had been the one to ultimately pay the price for her vengeance with an unhappy childhood.

She took a deep breath and reminded herself that if that hadn't happened, they wouldn't have Henry and nothing would make sense. She knew Emma felt the same way. It all made sense because of Henry, but still wasn't easy to see Emma think so poorly of herself.

"Emma," she started, and green eyes locked with hers. "You deserve all those things and more. Anyone would be lucky to have you. You're better off without Hook, anyway." She paused for a bit and her hand moved to Emma's without any conscious decision to move it. "And I will stand beside you and have your back no matter what. And so will Henry." She wanted to add that so would Emma's parents, but she didn't want to push it and start handling all of Emma's insecurities in one night. Emma had been through enough for the day.

"Thank you, Regina," Emma said and brought her arms around her again. This was their second hug that night... or ever, really. "You are my favorite person."

"And you are drunk, Miss Swan," responded playfully. She knew Emma wasn't _that_ inebriated; she had seen the other woman drink a lot more in the past, but she still thought Emma had had enough to drink for the night. She didn't need a massive hangover on top of everything else in the morning.

"And you are a party pooper and haven't had enough to drink," Emma stated as she pulled away from the embrace and smirked. "I'm not even drunk. Yet."

"And you don't have to be," Regina pointed out to the still-smirking Emma. "I think we've both had enough to drink." She had had those two shots, and Emma had had… something more while Regina had been upstairs. It wasn't that much, but it was enough.

"We most definitely haven't," Emma fought back with a playful tilt of her head. Her mascara was a bit smudged from crying, but she seemed happier than one would've expected in this situation.

"Should we check up on the others and tell them the wedding is off?"

"No. Not yet." Emma held a small pause. "We should have shots to celebrate," she continued, smirking at her.

"Emma, no," Regina tried to convince Emma. They didn't need more alcohol in this situation. She wanted Emma to have a good night's sleep so they could face the next day well-rested.

"Emma yes," Emma replied, tilting her head.

"No," Regina repeated.

Emma kept staring at her like a puppy one couldn't possibly say no to. "Regina… What kind of drinking buddy are you? We're best friends."

The term startled Regina. "I'm your best friend?" left her mouth before she could stop it.

Emma looked hurt for a while, and Regina mentally kicked herself for her question. Emma didn't need anyone else to treat her badly right now.

"I didn't mean it like that," Regina tried to fix her mistake. She didn't know how to continue. It wasn't like people didn't sometimes refer to her as Emma's best friend, but Emma had never called her that herself.

Emma's hurt seemed to fade, and the smirk returned to her lips. "Yes, you are, silly. You are – were – my maid of honor! We do everything together and share a son and some kickass magic. Plus, I'm your best friend too," she finished and poked her tongue out.

Regina was happy about Emma's newfound confidence. Even if Emma didn't believe in people wanting to be there for her and putting her first, Emma was still certain Regina thought of her as her best friend and vice versa. The thought made something warm spread in Regina's chest, and she decided not to analyze the emotion further. That never did her any good. Especially not now that Emma was single, both of them were tipsy, and Regina saw everything in a new light thanks to Zelena.

"Okay, let's do those shots," Regina finally agreed. She could feel this couldn't end in any particularly good way, but she had had a long day and she really didn't want to say no to Emma. Emma deserved a fun night in Vegas with her best friend, didn't she? Maybe that could make her feel better, at least momentarily.

"That's the spirit," Emma said as she took her crown off and tried to coronate Regina. She slipped first, the crown almost falling, but she caught it and managed to place it on Regina's head eventually.

"You are not making me wear this," Regina said. The crown was supposed to be golden, but it was made from plastic, it had horrible cheap diamonds in various colors, and it was too big for anyone to wear. "I'm an actual queen and a bit more refined."

"Sure you are," Emma smirked. "Come, my Majesty. Let's do some shots!" Emma announced as she grabbed Regina's hand and pulled her back into the bar with her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you have... like... any positive words, feel free to let me know because this part of the story (and the next chapter) is the part I'm most insecure about. I'm not sure if anything really... makes sense lmao. (There is an early version of this story where Hook was cheating and that's why Emma left him, but then I was like... that makes it too Hook-centric. If Emma doesn't wanna get married, that should be enough. There doesn't have to be an extra reason for breaking off the engagement.)


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for the positive feedback you gave me last time. It really meant (and still means) a lot to me and gave me confidence to post this chapter. I hope you like this one too (I'm still a bit uncertain myself).
> 
> Thanks to Tris for being an amazing beta, and thanks to Mari for listening to my rants! You're both amazing.
> 
> I hope you enjoy!

Regina soon found herself downing a tequila shot on a barstool next to Emma. She contemplated whether or not it would be wise to drink more straight away after their shots, but Emma was fast and ordered another beer for herself and a hard apple cider for Regina before she had a chance to decline the drink. She shrugged as she brought the glass to her lips. Even if the cider in this bar wasn't as good as the one she made in Storybrooke, she was still happy Emma had remembered it was her favorite.

She couldn't see many people from their group anywhere. Ashley and Aurora had disappeared, and so had Ruby who was undoubtedly talking with Snow somewhere. Mulan and Marian were still huddled at their table, seemingly unaware of Emma and Regina at the bar. Regina wasn't sure about the location of the rest of the party. She felt a bit bad for Snow who had really been looking forward to the bachelorette party group activities, but this really wasn't a bachelorette party anymore, and Snow had definitely had her fair share of parties in her life.

"Regina, don't ever agree to marry anyone if they're not the one for you," Emma exclaimed after downing another shot. "You can make your own decisions now. No matter how much everyone expects from you and if you just want to be accepted for once and take the easy way out… Just don't."

"Well," Regina replied. "I wasn't really planning to."

"That's good, that's good," Emma continued. She appeared to be rather drunk now, her rambling still comprehensible, but her voice was loud and her hands were waving more than usual. "You kinda expect things to change, and it's not really that bad of a situation you're in so you just continue, but don't do that. I just kinda settled for Hook." Emma shook her head and emptied another shot glass. "I honestly didn't know why because I was so ridiculously in love with you…"

"What?" She must've heard her wrong. There was no way Emma would say that, not out loud, at least. Even though Zelena's speech had made her imagination run wild, she would've never expected… She would've never expected Emma to realize and admit she had any feelings, let alone announce them to Regina.

"Oh, crap. I said that out loud," Emma groaned as she started turning red. _Well, that explained it._ She hid her face behind her hands. "God. When will this night end?"

"Emma," she said, trying to keep her voice even as she struggled to get any intelligent words out. "It's okay."

"How? How is any of this okay?" Emma said, her face still buried in her hands. "I'm in love with my straight best friend, and I accidentally told her," Emma laughed. "As if my life isn't like a movie enough already."

"Wait," Regina managed to get out and pulled away. _Seriously, Emma?_ " Who said I was straight?" She didn't feel like labeling herself the way a lot of people in this realm did, but she could honestly say that her nonexistent heterosexuality wasn't the reason they weren't together. She fell for people regardless of their gender. She had never done anything to hide it, unless keeping it from her mother counted.

Besides, _they_ _had kissed._ Only one night, but quite a lot. Not the way friends kissed. Had Emma experienced complete loss of memory after that night?

"Wha…t?" Emma sighed as she dropped her purse on the floor and got down to pick it up. "Well, yeah," she continued, crouched down as she gathered whatever had fallen out of her purse. "I thought it was obvious. I mean, I know we kissed once, but straight girls kiss when they're drunk sometimes. You never brought it up again, but I realized my feelings then." Emma paused as she zipped her purse closed. "But I get it, you see me as a friend, and I'm happy to be your friend and I don't wanna ruin this." She stood up with some trouble, and struggled to hop on the bar stool before eventually succeeding. "I would've done something if you had liked me back. _You_ would've done something if you liked me like that. There's no way in hell I would've been marrying Hook if I'd ever had a chance with you. No matter what anyone would say."

Emma kept rambling, and Regina didn't know how to respond. The warm feeling she had felt earlier in her chest was reappearing, her stomach was doing somersaults, and she found it hard to breathe. This was not good at all. Why wasn't her heart co-operating with her mind? Knowing her feelings weren't one-sided made this so much harder.

She waved the bartender for another pair of shots and downed hers as Emma continued talking.

"But yeah," Emma continued awkwardly. She had trouble sitting straight. Regina was afraid she would fall off the bar stool soon. "It felt good to get that out. I had wanted to for a while, but now nothing's stopping me anymore, not really. I just hope things don't get too weird between us." Emma hopped off from her seat and hugged her. "We're friends and I'm so happy to have you in my life and with me here. I love you."

Regina stayed silent and still. She couldn't believe she was actually in this situation; her head felt heavy, and she was so _drunk._ She didn't even realize what she was saying, before an "I know" left her mouth.

"Oh," Emma's hold on her became awkward, and Regina realized she wasn't even holding her because she was so caught up in her own thoughts. "Sorry, Regina, I'm… "Emma pulled away, looking guilty before realization hit her. "Wait. Did you just quote Star Wars?"

"Uh-hummm," she replied, still trying to regain her speaking abilities.

"You ass!" Emma hissed. She sat down again and her expression slowly changed from furious to embarrassed. "This is gonna be so awkward tomorrow, you know? Oh, God…" Emma moaned and brought a hand to cover her face.

"Emma…" she tried to begin, but was interrupted again.

"I told my son's other mother who also happens to be my very straight best friend I'm in love with her on the night of my bachelorette party of a wedding that's not gonna happen. Great," Emma groaned as she leaned on a barstool behind her and ran a hand through her curls, her gaze fixed on the floor.

"Okay, Emma, stop," Regina said as she got up. If she hadn't felt drunk before, she did now when she was actually standing. "First of all, I don't know why you think I'm straight. We kissed. It felt… very good. We've had our… moments.

"Secondly, I'm…" She struggled to find the right words and her state of inebriation was making her say things she would most likely regret the next day. "I'm not _good_ for you. You deserve so much better than me, or that pirate. You deserve _everything._ But don't ever think your feelings are one-sided or that you're not lovable or desirable."

That was all she managed to get her brain to say, but it seemed to make all the difference for Emma. The blonde raised her gaze from the ground and searched Regina's face for a short moment. Regina returned the gaze and waited for Emma to say something.

"You're not lying," Emma said. It sounded more like a statement than a question. She knew Emma could tell when she was lying, and this was as honest as she would get when it came to showing Emma her true feelings.

"I'm not," she confessed, trying to focus her gaze on Emma.

Emma's expression went from confused and surprised to frustrated and angry. Suddenly, she moved and almost knocked down her barstool in the process.

"What the hell, Regina? Why didn't you tell me?" Emma almost yelled to Regina's face as she moved closer, all personal space between them once again forgotten. "It's not for you to decide who's worthy of me and keep things from me because of that!"

"Well," she started. She tried to think of a way to voice her feelings on the matter, but she was drunk and felt like she would regret her words in the morning. "You'd be way better off with someone who hasn't cursed an entire kingdom and tried to poison you." Not that Hook had fit the bill either. She told herself for the umpteenth time that Emma deserved something better than either of them. It was just becoming increasingly hard after Emma's confession; she started to forget why she was fighting her desire to be with Emma so hard in the first place. "And for a really long time, I didn't think you'd feel the same way about me. I mean, why would you?"

"Oh, my God... Regina, I'm…" Emma threw her hands up in frustration. "I can't believe we're having this conversation. You gave me happy memories. You're always there for me. You're my best friend. No one understands me like you do. You're…"

Regina never found out what else she was, because suddenly Emma flung herself at her and her lips were on Regina's. Regina hesitated for a moment before responding to the kiss, frozen on the spot as Emma's lips tentatively touched hers. Just when she could feel Emma was about to pull away, she moved her lips against the other woman's and placed her hand on Emma's hip. Even though she should've known better, she got caught up in the moment and deepened the kiss, pulling Emma's lower lip between hers as Emma's fingers tangled in her hair.

They were both drunk, and it was sloppy, but Regina wouldn't have complained in a million years. Kissing Emma felt so right - even more so now than it had the last time - and Regina decided to give in for the night.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for commenting, leaving kudos, and reading this story. It really means a lot to me. I hope you all like this chapter.
> 
> Many thanks to Tris again! You're a lifesaver!

Regina woke up with a throbbing headache. She refused to open her eyes, unwilling to face the light of day just yet. How much alcohol had she consumed the previous night? What had happened?

She kept her eyes closed as she tried to recall the events of the previous evening. There had been alcohol. And Emma. Emma leaving Hook. Some more alcohol. _Emma saying she was in love with her?_ Had she dreamt that? She knew she had dreamt about Emma reciprocating her feelings more times than she liked to admit, but the conversation in her head was too vivid to be only a product of her subconscious.

She let out a groan when she realized how dry her mouth was. She would have to get up at some point. She really needed to have a glass of water, and going to the bathroom sounded pretty good, too. She really needed to get out of bed.

As she opened her eyes, she was faced with a sight she wouldn't have expected in a million years: she was staring right at the sleeping face of Emma Swan. Emma looked so peaceful, a lock of hair fallen on her face and her mouth slightly open. Despite her smudged mascara, she looked as beautiful as ever, and Regina couldn't stop admiring her.

She soon came to her senses, though, when she realized Emma was still in her dress, but her bra was gone and the dress covered only Emma's body from the waist-down. _What had happened? Why had she let it happen?_

Regina sighed. It didn't take a genius to deduct that something she definitely hadn't planned had occurred in the bed they were lying on just mere hours ago. This wasn't good at all.

She got up, as careful as possible to not wake Emma, and made her way towards the bathroom. She ended up leaning on the wall of shower as the warm water splashed on her. She tried to come up with some sort of recollection of the events from the previous night, but that turned out to be harder than expected. There had been more shots after they'd discussed their feelings, they had purchased something from the store across the street and they had taken a cab to go somewhere…

Regina's headache increased. She wasn't sure if she wanted to remember what had happened and if that was keeping the memories from surfacing.

She squirted shampoo on her left hand, and that's when she saw it. There was a cheap-looking ring on her ring finger. _No._

She almost immediately jumped out of the shower, but decided to wash her hair first before stampeding into the bedroom and interrogating Emma about the events of the previous night… She was _married._ Again. To a person she loved this time, so it was really an improvement, but… This was a mistake. They couldn't be together. She thought she had already made that clear. What had she been thinking?

When she finally walked out of the bathroom, she was met with the sight of mussed-haired Emma wrapped up in a white sheet and staring at her ring finger in confusion. Her old engagement ring was gone, and she was wearing a ring similar to Regina's. Her head shot up when she realized Regina was there, her expression guilty, uncertain, and afraid, and alright, maybe Regina wouldn't be _too_ mad at Emma when she looked like a lost puppy.

"Hi?" Emma said carefully, her expression nervous.

"Did we get married last night?" Regina felt the need to cut to the chase, because frankly, she wasn't in any condition for small talk with this kind of headache.

She really needed coffee.

"Um, yes? I guess? I'm sorry," Emma lowered her gaze to her hands, looking guiltier than ever. "I think it was my idea."

Regina hadn't been suspecting that. She had thought Emma would've been as clueless as she was, but apparently the other woman had a better idea of what had happened.

"Your idea?" Regina said a bit more angrily than she had intended.

Emma raised her gaze again, her cheeks crimson. She seemed to be fighting back tears. "I'm really sorry, Regina. Please don't hate me."

The sight of Emma so hopeless broke Regina's heart. She decided to abandon her original approach on the matter and walked towards Emma, sitting down on the bed as she said, "Emma, I could never hate you." She took Emma's hand in hers. "Tell me what you remember."

Emma exhaled slowly before starting to talk. "I thought it'd be fun. Really. After everything, we just needed something to… lighten up the mood, which I know isn't really a good reason to get married." She sighed. "I shouldn't have watched so much Friends in the 90s."

"Did you just compare us to Ross and Rachel? Because I won't have that," she informed Emma.

"What?" Emma seemed confused by the turn this conversation had taken. "What's wrong with R-" She stopped. "Monica and Chandler?"

She stayed quiet for a second before replying, "Better."

Emma rolled her eyes. "So, _anyway._ You said you wanted to see Hook's face at the news before you set him on fire, so you thought it was a good idea, too. You wanting to punish him was actually very sweet in its own way." Emma took a deep breath. "So, yeah, I think we just took a cab and went to a chapel nearby, and boom. Married."

Regina remembered taking a cab with Emma, but everything after that was kind of blurry. She remembered having had some more tequila in the cab, after which her memories became so fuzzy she honestly couldn't remember anything.

"Regina, could you, like, say something?" Emma's uncertain voice pulled her back from her thoughts.

"I'm sorry. Well," she started, but was drawing a blank. How was she supposed to answer? That she actually wanted to be married to Emma? She couldn't do that. That would've been absurd. "I suppose it was fun, although this headache is not. We should probably file for a divorce or an annulment at some point, though, since we can't possibly stay married."

"Right. Of course," Emma answered with a tint of sarcasm in her voice as she stood up. "Because that would be ridiculous." Regina tried to tear her gaze away from Emma when the bedsheet fell off her body as Emma walked into the bathroom in the remnants of her clothing. Emma didn't bother to look back at Regina before closing the bathroom door behind her.

Regina shook her head and laid on the bed. If someone had told her four years ago she'd end up marrying Emma Swan, she would've laughed at their face.

* * *

As Emma took her time in the shower, Regina put on a robe and decided to search for her phone which she eventually found in her purse under the bed. After drinking some water and laying back down, she found out that she had eleven missed calls and thirty-two new messages. She couldn't remember when her phone had last looked like this. Probably some time Emma had been trying to contact her because she'd been worried.

This time, however, the person who had been trying to reach her wasn't Emma, but the other Storybrooke residents. There were four people who'd been trying to call her the previous night: Zelena, Marian, Kathryn, and last but by no means least, Snow.

Regina groaned as she came to the conclusion that she was in no state to call any of the women. She opened her unread messages instead, only to find the same women, first and foremost Snow, interrogating her about her and Emma's whereabouts.

_Regina where did you and Emma go? You were downstairs and the bartender told me you left together._

_Regina. Emma isn't picking up. Tell me she's still with you._

_Regina! Pick up_

_Regina. Are you okay? I can't find you._

_REGINA. ASHLEY JUST TOLD ME THEY SAW YOU LEAVE A STORYBOOK WEDDING CHAPEL WEARING A VEIL. WITH EMMA._

Regina scrunched her face at that and looked around the room. There was, in fact, a short veil near the entrance. It looked so cheap. She hadn't planned to ever get married again in the first place, but now she had apparently done exactly that in A Storybook Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas with Emma Swan. This was unbelievable.

 _Regina. I think you could really use someone to talk to when you wake up. Marian told me what happened. Call me._ Regina read on the screen. Kathryn's reaction to her getting married seemed much calmer.

Marian's messages were something else. Apparently, she had been there with Mulan and Zelena after Regina and Emma had gotten married because one of her messages was a picture of them… kissing. Regina's face was covered by her veil, but Emma was wearing a flower crown on her head and grinning into the kiss, her hands resting on Regina's waist. Her original crown was nowhere to be seen.

Regina couldn't stop staring at the picture for some reason. Emma looked so carefree and happier than Regina had seen her in ages. The picture was followed by a similar picture, but it included a photobombing Zelena grinning and flashing her thumbs up in the background. Marian's last comment said _Just in case you can't remember what happened last night. Let me know when you wake up._

She saw Zelena's message next. _Morning! Congrats on the marriage, sis. Told you so._

Regina threw her phone on the bed. This would mean everyone knew. If Snow knew, everyone did. What would Henry think? She needed to make sure he wouldn't find out. This would only confuse him.

Her thoughts were interrupted by Emma coming out of the bathroom. She was wrapped in a white towel again, and Regina covered her eyes with her hand. She needed to think straight, but Emma - her _wife_ \- wrapped in nothing but a towel, after the night they had just had, wasn't really helping her.

"Um, Regina?" she heard Emma's uncertain voice say. "You okay?"

Regina let out a mixture of a scoff and a laugh, unable to form any words that would've described her current emotions. She didn't know what she was feeling.

"Just great," she finally responded as she sat up, sarcasm evident in her voice. She was about to start a rant about her headache or the fact that she would soon leave without Emma if she didn't get ready for brunch in time, but clammed her mouth shut when she saw Emma's face. Despite trying to keep up a calm, brave demeanor, Emma still resembled a kicked golden retriever to her.

"I'm really sorry, Regina. I- I hope we can still be friends," Emma started quietly, her tone uncertain.

Before she knew what she was doing, she walked up to Emma and wrapped her arms around the woman's quasi-naked form. She couldn't bear to see Emma so sad, much less because of her, so she put aside her annoyance partly caused by her hungover state and held her. Emma stiffened for a moment before relaxing into the hug and letting out a deep sigh.

"You'll never lose me, whatever happens," Regina murmured into the hug. She knew Emma would always feel like people could just throw her away when they didn't need her anymore or got mad at her, and Regina wanted Emma to know that that wouldn't be the case with her. She would always be there as long as Emma wanted her, no matter what. They had been through so much together.

Standing there, they were separated by only Regina's short silky robe and Emma's towel. Emma eventually brought her arms around Regina, too, nuzzling her neck as she did so. It was probably unintentional, but Regina still fought the urge to turn her face and meet Emma's lips with hers.

Regina's inappropriate thoughts were interrupted by knocking on their door, and they suddenly pulled away from each other when they realized how the situation must've looked.

"Regina? Snow is growing rather impatient because you two are still either sleeping or in the middle of some other activities, so please come out," Zelena's frustrated yet simultaneously amused voice sounded from the hallway. "And I want to see the happy couple before I go back to the casino. Granny and I are going casino hopping today. The Venetian won't wait!"

Emma raised her brow as she made her way towards the door. Regina watched her walk across their spacious room in her towel, water drops dripping from her hair. Her thoughts drifted to the previous night and the bits and pieces that were coming back to her. She could remember falling down on the bed and Emma's body hovering above hers. There had been drunken sloppy kisses, touches, and moans that made Regina shake her head. Maybe it was better if everything stayed in her subconscious. It would be hard to make smart decisions like this.

"Hello, sister-in-law!" Zelena chirped as she walked past Emma into the room. "And Mrs Swan! Good morning!"

"I'm not Mrs Swan!" Regina hurried to explain even though it was clear her sister was only joking.

"Yeah, we would be Swan-Mills," Emma said absentmindedly as she shut the door.

"No, Mills-Swan," Regina corrected. It sounded much better like that.

Zelena seemed highly amused. "I see. Anyway, looking good… Congratulations." Her expression turned slightly more serious. "Regina, we should probably have a short talk later now that we're both sober. And both of you must talk to Snow. Ruby and Kathryn took her to go to the pool so she'd stop worrying, but she's growing impatient."

"How was gambling yesterday?" Emma asked, completely changing the subject.

"Oh," Zelena started, excitement clear on her face. "It was fantastic, and I can't wait to go back! I mean, I had to leave after Regina's call." She stopped talking to look at Regina. "It's not every day your little sister gets married, but I'm going back today. Granny's already there; she barely slept last night. Ruby was wondering if she needs an intervention of some sort, but frankly Granny's only been winning, so there's absolutely no reason for that."

"Well," Regina started, both surprised and impressed by Granny's gambling skills. She was even better than she had thought. "I'm glad to hear that."

"Yes, it's been a real adventure. But I really should get going," Zelena said, her expression turning a bit more serious again. "Regina, would you like to talk now or later?"

"Later is fine," she replied truthfully. She wasn't ready to talk about this with anyone.

"Alright. I'll see you two soon. Enjoy your day!" Zelena flashed them a smile before she turned on her heel and left the room.

Regina scoffed. That would be highly unlikely.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so just in case: they didn't have sex (yet). When they do, you'll know.
> 
> And also oops sorry, but we can't have a happy ending just yet.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, at this point, I should probably mention I've never been to Las Vegas, but I tried to do some research. I hope I did okay (and if I didn't, please forgive me lol).
> 
> Also, my friend C had Regina x Star Wars headcanons she allowed me to use, and I wrote the first version of this when the Force Awakens had yet to come out, so...
> 
> Thanks to Tris for being an awesome beta!

After Regina reminded Emma of the awaiting brunch downstairs, the other woman quickly pulled on her clothes so they could finally get some food and coffee. Regina was especially looking forward to the latter, unwilling to face anyone else without having a steaming cup of coffee first.

She tried to avoid taking a look at her reflection in the elevator mirror, but she caught a glimpse of her hungover self, anyway. She didn't look bad after putting on some makeup and drying her hair - she gave herself that - but she could still see the exhaustion and the traces of excessive use of alcohol on her face.

She realized how hungry she was only when they made their way towards the restaurant downstairs and she could smell food. Emma seemed to be on the same page with her as she strode towards the buffet, each step faster than the last. Regina soon walked quickly behind Emma to join her in the line to select food; Emma grabbed anything deep-fried and salty as Regina searched for coffee before concentrating on the wide selection of breakfast dishes.

"There are three different kinds of bacon!" Emma exclaimed despite everything and Regina couldn't stifle a laugh. Emma had the ability to make her amused even when she was feeling terrible.

They were just about to walk to a vacant table when a familiar voice called their names and made them turn around. Belle, Ashley, and Aurora were sitting at a table, and Belle was waving at them. Regina sighed. She wanted to have her brunch in peace with Emma, but Emma was walking towards the table already, so she followed her best friend and temporary wife without sparing an eye-roll.

"So, congratulations," Belle said out after they sat down. "Can't say I'm not a tiny bit surprised. What-?"

Regina shot Belle a sinister glare that shut the woman up rather efficiently.

"Okay, then," Belle replied. "As you wish. How are you liking Vegas so far?"

Emma answered something as Regina concentrated on her coffee. She was glad Belle had dropped the earlier topic. She would not be talking about this… incident with Belle or mostly any of the other women that they were spending the weekend in the city with. She might make an exception for Zelena or maybe Marian or even Kathryn, but that would be it.

Apparently, she ended up making an exception for Snow, too. After regular small talk and eating, Kathryn, Ruby, and Regina's former step-daughter and current (and temporary, she reminded herself) mother-in-law entered the restaurant. Snow was gaping at them with a confused expression on her face, so Regina thought it best to talk to her in private before the whole restaurant would hear what she had to say.

* * *

"I'm… What happened?" Snow finally breathed out after some more gaping at them. She was facing them in the brightly-lit hallway outside the restaurant.

"I'm…" Emma tried to start, but couldn't get any words out. Regina saw she was nervous, her face flustered and her fingers fidgeting with the hem of her white tank top.

"There was an incident due to which Emma and I ended up drinking too much and driving to a chapel to get married," Regina narrated, deciding it was easier for Emma if she said something, too. "I can assure you this is in no way a new try at trying to destroy your happiness, or Emma's, but a drunken mistake that shall be fixed shortly."

"You got… married… You got married by mistake?" Snow repeated, her eyes wide.

"Well, it's not like we had planned this. You must know that much." Regina was growing irritated with the whole situation. She still hadn't finished her coffee or her food that were waiting for her at their table.

"Emma," Snow said after a short moment of silence. "What about Killian?"

Emma groaned and brought her hands to her face. "Yeah, that. This has nothing to do with him. I left him last night. No wedding coming up. Sorry to disappoint you."

Emma's words were breaking Regina's heart. They had talked about this the previous night, but Emma still thought she would disappoint her mother by not marrying Hook. She wanted to wrap her arms around Emma, but Snow seemed to beat her to it as she did her parenting duty right for the first time in a long time, her arms enclosing Emma into a hug as she sobbed.

"You could never disappoint me. You are everything your father and I ever wanted," Snow said sternly. Regina bit back a comment that would've pointed out that they really needed to pay more attention on who Emma was to make it seem so. "We just want you to be happy."

"Okay," Emma muttered into the hug. She seemed a bit confused by her mother's sudden outburst of emotions.

"More than anything, I'm just… so confused. You didn't invite me to your wedding! Why were Zelena, Mulan, and Marian invited, but not me?"

Well, that was unexpected. Emma seemed to think so too as her answer consisted of different "uhm"s and "well"s as they broke apart.

"What Emma is trying to say," Regina improvised, "is that Marian and Mulan just happened to be there, and I can't remember how Zelena got invited." She honestly didn't, although both Zelena and her call history told her she had called Zelena before going to the chapel.

Snow nodded, her mouth a straight line. There was a short moment of silence, during which she seemed like she would bust and say something but she restrained herself.

"I'm really hungry. Can we go back to eat?" Emma asked a few seconds later, her hands in the back pockets of her jeans. Her voice was still strained, but it had some of its former mirth back.

Regina laughed, and so did Snow.

"Yes, of course," Snow replied. "Would you still like to do some of the Vegas activities we had planned for today? We are actually moving in two different groups before the evening, so you could choose. You can say no, and… watch TV with Regina in your room if you want."

Emma laughed at that. "I think I'd be okay with some stuff with everyone. Just… no questions."

"Okay," Snow responded seriously. "We can do that… Just one question."

"Yeah?" Emma said as Regina rolled her eyes.

"Have you considered staying married?" Snow asked, her expression still serious.

"What?" Regina and Emma said in unison. Regina hadn't expected Snow to be okay with this, let alone supportive, and now she wanted her to stay married to Emma? "Why?"

"It'd make a lot of sense. Think about it," Snow stated. She shrugged before turning on her heel and marching back to the restaurant without any further explanations, leaving both of them standing in the hallway, surprised and confused.

* * *

After their lunch, Emma suggested they do something in the hotel because Regina was still hungover and unwilling to face the light of day just yet. She agreed to Emma's plan, so while Snow, Ruby, Marian, and Mulan were visiting Pacific Archery and the Botanical Gardens at the Bellagio, Regina and Emma made their way to the large aquarium in the hotel.

The aquarium was beautiful, but that was nothing compared to Emma's childlike enthusiasm that blossomed when they first walked in. It took Regina a moment to realize she hadn't really paid attention to any of the fish because she had been enthralled by Emma's excited face.

She rolled her eyes at herself. _Just perfect._

"Look at those three fish, Regina. Two dark ones and one light one; it's like us and Henry." Emma pointed at something Regina couldn't see.

"You're a child," she stated.

Emma responded with an eye roll and a smile. "Says the person who quotes Star Wars when something serious is going on."

She huffed and shook her head. She remembered what Emma was referring to, but just barely.

"You never seemed like a Star Wars kinda person to me," Emma continued as she watched the fish.

"And why is that?" Regina asked. She could, in fact, call herself a Star Wars fan, but the only people who knew about it were her, Henry, and the owner of the small movie theater back in Storybrooke because Regina had wanted to see the entire original trilogy on big screen.

"I don't know. I mean, I know you have them on DVD… and VHS… But I just figured they were Henry's."

"No, they're mine. Return of the Jedi came out in the same year as I created Storybrooke," she told Emma casually, her gaze drifting to the fish, although she could tell Emma was watching her now. "So I saw the original trilogy in the wrong order. After I went to see Return of the Jedi and did a bit of research, I got the movie theater in Storybrooke to show A New Hope and Empire Strikes Back."

"Really?"

"Don't sound so surprised, Emma," she said, finally looking at the other woman in the eye. "Return of the Jedi was the first movie I saw. It was quite an adventure. Space, modern sword fights, difficult choices. Redemption. So obviously Henry grew into it, eventually. He had a phase where I was the Jedi master and he was the padawan."

"No way," Emma said, although it sounded like she had no trouble actually believing the story. She just sounded surprised.

"We even had robes." She wasn't sure why she was telling Emma all of this, but she really wanted to share this bit of her life and raising Henry with Emma. "I told him... _Young Mills, if you do not eat your vegetables, how do you expect become a Jedi master?_ It worked like a charm."

"Wait, that was your actual memory?" Emma interrupted her.

"What do you mean?"

"Like, I kinda figured you gave me some of your memories when you sent Henry and I to New York, but I just didn't realize it was all so detailed. Wow." Emma was staring at her like she had never seen her before, which was quite an accomplishment at this point of their relationship.

"Oh, yes, that," she responded awkwardly. She had never told Emma the full story behind the memories. "The memories you got were quite detailed and had influences from my life with Henry."

"Thank you," Emma said quietly with a smile on her face. "We should go see Episode VII together when it comes out. All three of us." She held a small break. "Unless you want it to be just you and Henry thing, which I totally get."

"Oh, you're more than welcome to join us, Emma," she said. Soon she found herself smiling at Emma like Snow smiled at her uncharming husband, so she turned her gaze back to the fish again.

"How're you feeling?" Emma asked her after a while.

"I've felt better," she replied truthfully. Her nausea had somewhat subsided after lunch, but her head still hurt. "You?"

"I feel as good as new!" Emma replied enthusiastically as she walked towards the next tank of fish. During the few years they had been friends and drinking buddies, Regina had learned Emma could take larger amounts of alcohol than she could and still feel alright the next day. She couldn't believe that 14 hours ago she had actually been worried about Emma's well-being in the morning when she was always the one feeling nauseous. "Do you wanna go take a nap before meeting up with the others?"

"I think I'll be alright. We should probably go buy souvenirs for Henry instead," she pointed out. Henry had had specific wishes for comic books, and Regina was more than eager to buy him the copies he wanted. She was glad their fifteen-year-old didn't think he was too old for them.

"Yeah, we were supposed to go to Cosmic Comics, right?"

"Yes, I suppose that was the name of the store," she replied. They had looked it up before the trip.

"So, we'll go there next?" Emma asked. She turned around to look at Regina, her smile never leaving her lips.

"If you're up for it," she responded.

"Of course!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All the Star Wars headcanons are my friend's (theheda on tumblr), and I wrote a fic based on them last year, but I never quite finished it and hence never quite published it... I should probably do that sometime.
> 
> Coming up next: their last night in Vegas!


	9. Chapter 9

After their visit to Cosmic Comics (where they had bought more Star Wars related things than they had originally planned) they made their way back to the Mirage. Regina had to give it to Emma: the woman really knew how to move around in a big city. She got them a cab faster than Regina could ever have, and they were back at the hotel in virtually no time.

"Belle sent me a text asking if we wanna eat with them. That okay with you?" Emma asked when she read her text messages in the elevator.

"Yes, I suppose it is." She didn't want to talk about their marriage or any other matters from the previous night, but she felt like she shouldn't keep Emma from any group dinners since she knew Emma would always choose her company above the others'. "Who else is going?"

"Well, it seems to be just Belle, Kathryn, Ashley, and Aurora for now. They went to…" Emma looked at her phone again. " _Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area_ , and they're back."

That wasn't too many people. She could deal with that. "Yes, sure, I'll just get changed first."

"But you look great," Emma muttered behind her as they exited the elevator, and Regina was yet again unable to suppress a hidden smile. "Wait, isn't that your phone?"

She had been so flustered by Emma's comment she hadn't realized her phone was ringing. She quickly rummaged through the belongings in her purse until she finally found her phone. The screen read Zelena.

"What's wrong?" Emma asked when Regina didn't answer the phone.

"Oh, nothing in particular," Regina responded. She realized her sister probably had something to say about the wedding, and Regina didn't want Emma to hear either side of _that_ conversation. "It's Zelena. You go ahead and get ready. I'll be right there."

"Ookay," Emma responded before she slowly started walking towards their room, leaving Regina in the hallway.

Regina took a deep breath as she mentally prepared herself for the conversation that was about to take place. She knew she needed to talk to Zelena sooner or later - her sister simply wouldn't let this go - so she answered her phone just as Emma disappeared into their hotel room.

"Zelena. Is everything alright?"

"Regina. Hi. Everything's great here. I was actually calling you because I was thinking we should talk."

"Really?" she said, even though she knew what was about to come.

"How are you holding up? You didn't seem all too excited about the marriage this morning," Zelena asked. Her tone was more serious than Regina had heard in a long time.

"Yes, well," she said. "It's not like we're going to stay married."

The line stayed quiet for a while until, "Regina, are you sure that's what you want? I hadn't seen either one of you as happy as you were last night in _ages._ Granted, I had never seen you as drunk as you were last night… But my point still stands."

Regina sighed as she brought a hand on her temple. She would never be ready for this conversation. "What _is_ your point, exactly?"

"Regina, you know what my point is. I think it'd be incredibly foolish to let your issues get in the way of your happiness that you more than deserve. Both of your happinesses. Stay married."

"You sound like Snow," Regina pointed out after a small pause.

Zelena scoffed. "Or if you don't like the whole concept of marriage, just… be together, at least. You both want to. No one would be surprised. When I told Granny, she said 'called it' and Henr-"

"Henry what?" Regina demanded, her voice growing an octave higher.

"Well, I didn't tell him what happened!" Zelena retorted. Regina could practically hear Zelena roll her eyes. "I'm not Snow... who I told not to tell Henry when you were still sleeping. You're welcome, by the way. But he knows something's going on. He's rather observant."

"Yes, I am aware," she responded. It wouldn't take Henry long to realize something had changed between his mothers. "Thank you."

"For what?" Zelena asked, confusion evident in her voice.

"For making sure Henry wouldn't find out… It would be incredibly confusing for him."

"Anytime," Zelena chirped at the same time as Regina's phone started beeping to indicate that someone else was calling her. She wasn't that surprised to see Henry's name on her screen. Normally, she would've had called him already, but she currently felt like she didn't know what to say.

"Zelena, Henry is calling me. Did you have something else to say?"

"No, I believe that was it. Think about what I said, will you?"

Regina sighed. "Have fun tonight."

She ended the call with Zelena before her sister had a chance to argue with her. She didn't know how to deal with any of this; this day had barely started and she already wanted to go back to sleep. She shook her head as she brought her phone back to her ear and answered Henry's call.

"Mom! Mom broke up with Hook! Why didn't you tell me?" Henry started the call before Regina had a chance to say anything. His excitement was clear as words were practically spilling out of his mouth.

"Wait," she started. "How did _you_ hear about that already?" Had someone told Henry more than he ought to know? She shook her head. Probably not. If he had heard of his mothers' marriage, he would've been talking about that instead.

"Mom just called me," Henry explained, which made Regina a bit surprised. She hadn't thought Emma would be willing to talk about her break-up any more than necessary.

"Really? What did she say?" 

"She told me it was complicated, but the wedding wouldn't be happening and that she wasn't together with Hook anymore. Mom, this is great news!" Henry sounded ecstatic. "She's way happier without him. She sounded happy when she told me-" he trailed off. "And then she started apologizing in case I had been looking forward to the wedding. I told her she shouldn't worry about that and if she was happy, I was happy." He lowered his voice. "And I'm happy Hook's not gonna be at family dinners anymore."

Regina fought a chuckle. He was truly her son. "Yes, well, you're not alone on that," she confessed, trying to stay as casual as possible.

"Mom," Henry said, half laughing. "So, what did you do last night? Mom said you just went out. Did you go to the casinos?"

"Ehm, no," she started, trying to keep her story similar to the one Emma had evidently given him. "Only Zelena and Granny have been spending time at the casino. We never went there."

"Oh," Henry said, sounding almost disappointed. "Well, you still should send me pictures. Mom told me she would send some from tonight when you go sightseeing."

Regina smiled. "I'm glad she has that covered then."

"I should ask Zelena about the casino next," he thought out loud.

"You should call her now. I was talking to her when you called so she shouldn't be too occupied," Regina reasoned. "Is everything okay in Storybrooke, though?"

"Yeah, everything's great. I showed Gramps Star Wars last night. We only watched the original trilogy, so we'll continue with the rest tonight."

Regina smiled at the information. "I'm glad you're having a good time."

"Yeah, we are... Can you make sure mom's okay? Even though she didn't really seem upset about the break-up..." Henry added uncertainly.

"Yes, of course," she assured him. She wouldn't want him to worry; she never wanted Henry to experience any unnecessary distress. He had had enough for a lifetime, and she couldn't bear seeing her son perturbed because of his parents anymore. "Don't worry about us. We'll be fine. Have fun tonight."

"You too, mom. See you tomorrow!"

"See you tomorrow, Henry."

* * *

Their early dinner became bigger than expected, the rest of their group joining them too after their early return from archery. Their meal was still noticeably more pleasant than the lunch from the day before; no one asked Emma questions that made the blonde's expression fall, and everyone almost solely discussed their daytime activities and their plans for the evening.

Their first activity for the evening, as it turned out, was them going to Stratosphere Tower. The view from the observation deck quite literally took Regina's, like everyone else's, breath away. From the top of the tower, they could see how huge the city truly was.

"You okay?" Emma asked as Regina stood gazing at the city beneath them.

"Yeah, it's just rather impressive," she replied absentmindedly, her gaze still fixated on the flashing city lights. "Nothing like the Enchanted Forest or Storybrooke."

"Yeah, it's different," Emma said with a tint of amusement in her voice. "Hey, if you like it, we should go to New York sometime. You, me, and Henry. It'd be a lot of fun. We could show you all the stuff from that year."

Regina turned her head towards Emma at the mention of that. The suggestion warmed her heart. "I'd really like that."

After taking a look at the city, they made a quick stop at M&M's World where a childlike smile crept onto Emma's face. The woman's excitement was contagious: their whole party wound up buying candy to take home. (She and Emma got Henry three different kinds of M&M's, although Regina was certain Emma would end up eating some of it herself).

Everything was going fine until their last stop before meeting up with Zelena and Granny. They were getting on the High Roller because both Ruby and Belle had insisted that their trip wouldn't be complete without them taking a ride on the biggest ferris wheel in the world. They had had a few drinks at a nearby bar, and Regina wasn't quite sure if going on a ferris wheel after that was a good idea, but she couldn't say no to Emma's excited face.

"Why did I even drink anything? I should've known better," Regina muttered as the ferris wheel started taking them upwards towards the city skyline. They were all in the same passenger pod **,** and the low chatter in the confined space got more animated as they got higher.

"Well, my mom offered you the drink, so…" Emma replied, her gaze turning from the city lights to Regina.

"I can't imagine why she did, though," Regina muttered. "The last time I got drunk, I married her daughter. And that was _yesterday._ "

Emma laughed at that. "It honestly seemed to be a pleasant surprise for her," she pointed out. "I still can't believe it. Maybe she wanted to have you as a daughter-in-law."

"Don't be ridiculous," she scoffed, shaking her head, although it was clear that their marriage hadn't been an unpleasant surprise for Snow. Regina felt perpetually confused by the other woman's reaction. Snow kept looking at her and Emma like she wanted to burst into song. It was unexpected to say the least.

"Fine. She loves you, though," Emma stated with a shrug.

Regina rolled her eyes at that. Her relationship with Snow was complicated. They had come a long way to say the least, but neither of them discussed it often.

"Wanna take a selfie and send it to Henry?" Emma asked, casually changing the subject.

"Yes, of course," Regina replied and moved closer to Emma as the other woman poised her phone at arm's length and started taking pictures.

Taking pictures went as expected until Emma decided it was a good idea to turn her head and kiss Regina's cheek, which caused Regina to blush and uncharacteristically stumble upon her own feet. Emma caught her in the last minute, keeping her from falling against the window. They were standing incredibly close to each other once again, Emma's hands on her hips and her hands clutching Emma's toned arms, and she just really wanted to bring her lips to Emma's once more before they all went home.

A small sneeze brought them back to reality and they pulled apart as they tried to locate the source of the sound. Regina had almost forgotten there were other people in the pod with them, but she was quickly reminded of that when she saw Marian's guilty face and Mulan's amused expression.

"Bless you," Mulan said to Marian. She was holding back a laugh.

"I'm really sorry," Marian said to them. "Please carry on and pretend we're not here."

Snow was standing right next to them, observant as ever, and Ruby seemed highly amused. Regina didn't want to see anyone else's expressions, not when she knew she looked so flustered and vulnerable herself, so she turned around to look at the city again, Emma never leaving her side.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was a bit of a filler chapter, but the next one will have more... uhm, action? Many thanks to Tris again for beta reading!


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A few friends told me to rate this as E instead of M so... yeah...
> 
> Many thanks to Tris for beta reading!

"And I know this trip didn't go as we originally planned, but, as I've said before, happy endings aren't always what we think they'll be," Snow concluded her sappy toast at the casino bar. "And as long as Emma is happy, I'm happy."

There were approving murmurs around the table, and this time, Regina could join in them. She saw Emma give her mother a tentative smile that was more genuine than the ones she had given her earlier. Snow smiled back at Emma as she raised her glass.

"To new beginnings!"

As Regina raised her glass, she could see Snow's eyes flicker to her. The woman seemed thoughtful, like she wanted to elaborate on what new beginnings and happy endings meant. Snow never continued her speech, though; she kept her mouth shut as she sat down between Emma and Ruby and took a sip of her drink.

"Yes, Snow, thank you. That was absolutely beautiful," Zelena said as she stood up. "May I add something?" She raised her brow, her gaze moving from Snow to Emma and then to Regina.

No one objected, so Zelena continued, a glass in her hand and her eyes scanning the table. "I just wanted to say that I was delighted to hear I was welcome on this trip. I'd like to thank all of you for giving me another chance when I needed it the most. Look at Snow, for example." Zelena waved her hand towards Snow before looking at her. "I'm sorry about the whole baby incident.

"And a special thanks to my sister, of course. She's given me so much and deserves so much, just like Emma here," Zelena said, her voice high and her eyes boring into the two of them. Regina fought the urge to groan. It was pretty obvious what Zelena was trying to say. "So, I'd like to toast to new chances and finding your happiness and just… Enjoying life. Cheers!" Zelena flashed them a smile and downed her champagne in one go.

"That was, ehm, inspirational, Zelena," Marian said from the other side of the table.

"I try my best," Zelena smirked back. "Oh, and Regina," she continued, turning back to Regina as everyone else was falling into conversations with the women sitting next to them, "I got you your money back!"

"Really?" she asked, a bit surprised albeit not completely. Zelena had had Granny on her side all weekend. Granny was sitting next to Zelena even now. She was spending time with the rest of the group for the first time after their arrival in Vegas.

"Yes! I won nine thousand dollars! That is hardly anything compared to Granny," Zelena explained, waving her hand dismissively in the older woman's direction as she flashed Regina a smile. "But I still think it's rather good for a beginner, don't you?"

"Definitely," Regina said. A part of her wondered how much money Granny must have made. "Congratulations, Zelena. I'm impressed."

"Thank you," Zelena chirped as she took a champagne glass from the table and drank almost all of the remaining liquid before looking at the glass with a puzzled expression on her face. "Wait. This is yours."

Regina turned to look at the table. There were two champagne glasses on the table in front of them: one of them empty and one of them containing some remnants of champagne.

"Don't worry. I could rather use a glass of water, anyway," Regina said, shrugging as she stood up to go to the bar. She didn't want to repeat what had happened the night before, her slight headache a constant reminder that she really shouldn't have had any more alcohol.

She didn't get to enjoy her peace and quiet at the counter for too long. Before she knew it, she had company: Kathryn on her left side and Marian on her right. Both women seemed like they really wanted to say something until Marian finally burst.

"Okay, Regina. I know you don't really wanna talk about this, apparently," Marian started.

"If the fact that you neither texted nor called either of us back is anything to go by," Kathryn added.

"But we just want you to know that we're here for you in case you want to talk," Marian continued. "You were so happy at the wedding and you seemed to be rather chummy with Emma today too. How are things between you two?"

 _Chummy_. Regina shook her head.

"I don't know what you want me to say. There isn't much to tell," she stated as dismissively as possible. "Yes, we got married. No, we are not together. We will annul the marriage as soon as possible or get divorced, no matter what Snow and the rest of you want."

"Was that your mutual decision?" Kathryn asked as her line of sight was pointed somewhere else. Regina followed Kathryn's gaze and saw her looking at Emma who was talking with her mother and Ruby. Zelena had moved on the other side of the table to talk to Belle and Mulan.

"I…" Regina started, but wasn't able to finish her sentence the way she had originally planned to. "I don't know." She only remembered Emma ending the conversation when she had brought the annulment up. "But we can't possibly stay married."

"Why's that?" Marian asked. She sounded genuinely interested, like the whole thing wasn't some absurd mistake that happened drunk on a holiday.

"Why's… Have you _met_ Emma? She deserves something far better," she replied, repeating her own mantra.

"Regina," Kathryn said. "I hate to tell you this, but you are wrong." She let out a small laugh. "You make her so happy. And don't bring your past into this. We all know what you did, and that's not relevant right now. It's nothing but an excuse."

"Honestly," Marian continued, "If Kathryn and I, and _Snow White,_ have forgiven you and think you should be with Emma if that's what makes you both happy, then you really should consider that option."

That was a fair point.

She really needed a drink, after all.

"Can I get an apple cider with that?" she asked the bartender as her water arrived. She was met with a nod, and her cider appeared soon after.

"Please think about what we said," Marian said as she turned to leave.

"Oh, and the next time something like this comes up, I'd appreciate an invitation," Kathryn quipped before following Marian's lead.

"Noted," Regina said before taking a sip of her cider.

* * *

"Regina? Are you asleep?"

"Yes."

"Ha ha," Emma replied in the darkness from the bed next to Regina's. They had gotten back to their room half an hour ago, and they had been in their beds less than ten minutes. "I can't sleep. I think I drank too much again. My head feels heavy."

"At least we didn't repeat last night. I'm a little tipsy at best," Regina muttered without turning around to face Emma. It was rather dark anyway, their room illuminated only by some city lights through the curtains.

"I think that's debatable, but okay," Emma uttered. She held a small pause. "Henry still hasn't said anything about our selfie."

"That's because you sent that to him when it was almost two AM in Storybrooke. Be glad that he's asleep."

They had texted Henry earlier in the evening, so Regina knew he was okay. He had been enjoying a movie marathon with his grandfather. As much as Regina missed him, she had to admit he was capable of spending a weekend without his mothers now (as long as there wasn't any kind of magical threat in Storybrooke).

"Okay, that's true," Emma said. "Hey, Regina?"

"What?" She would never get any sleep if Emma kept talking all night.

"Let's look at our pictures from today!" Emma announced, and before Regina knew it, she had bounced on the bed next to Regina, scooting her over as she held her ridiculously bright phone above them.

"Are you serious?" Regina muttered, even though she was secretly amused by Emma's energy and spontaneity. She turned to lie on her back and squinted so that she could see the phone screen better.

"Yeah, look," Emma said as she started showing her the pictures she had taken that day. "This is for Henry. I need to send it to him later; Cosmic Comics was huuuge…"

They kept looking at the pictures for a while until they made it to the High Roller part of the evening. "Oh, and here's me giving my best friend slash wife a kiss on the cheek, and her getting shocked because it's totally improper to kiss someone's cheek on a ferris wheel out of all places."

She knew Emma was just teasing her, but she still couldn't fight a scoff. That wasn't why she had reacted the way she had, and she was getting more and more certain Emma knew it. Things were different between them now; Emma knew about her feelings, and it frightened her. Emma must've remembered everything Regina had said the previous night, because out of the two of them, Regina had had more trouble remembering what had happened.

"You assume too much, Miss Swan."

"Hey, it's Mrs Swan until we get that divorce you wanna file for so badly."

"Sure, Emma," she sighed. She didn't want a divorce. She wanted to stay with Emma forever and go to sleep like this every night and wake up next to her every morning.

Her thoughts were interrupted when Emma brought her lips to Regina's cheek again and pressed a chaste kiss on her skin without warning. She felt like Emma did it partly as a joke at first, like on the ferris wheel, but then her movement slowed down, and they were looking at each other in the eye in the bright light of Emma's phone screen.

Regina didn't make a conscious decision to do so, but in two seconds she had raised her head and met Emma's lips with hers. It was chaste and tentative at first, light brushes of lips and neither of them daring to cross the line to something more until Emma slid on top of Regina and deepened the kiss.

"Emma," she breathed out between kisses. "I don't think this is wise…"

Emma stopped kissing her, her face hovering just above hers. "Do you wanna stop?"

"No," she responded truthfully, all reasoning long lost as she brought her hands to Emma's neck and pulled Emma back down to her.

She didn't remember much of the previous night due to her excessive state of drunkenness, and hence she didn't have all the memories of their touchy-feely encounter, but she was sure she'd remember this for the rest of her life. Emma's lips felt exquisite as they nipped and played with hers, and the blonde's warm hands traveled along her sides in a way that made Regina ache for more.

She could soon feel Emma's hands moving from her sides to the front of her nightgown as the other woman pressed more kisses on her lips. She really wanted Emma to touch her bare skin underneath her clothes, but for some reason, Emma was holding back and simply drawing circles on her stomach as they continued kissing.

"Emma," she tried to start confidently, but her voice came out as a whine. "Could you just…"

"What?" Emma asked, her breathing uneven.

Regina brought her hand to Emma's, slowly guiding it to cup her breast above the nightgown. She fought back a moan as Emma's hand started massaging her breast and playing with her nipple through the silky material. Their kisses became more lazy, their attention concentrated elsewhere as Emma's hand slipped underneath the nightgown and made skin-on-skin contact with her breast.

To Regina's disappointment, Emma soon broke the contact with her chest altogether, but her annoyance soon dissipated when Emma got up to straddle her and pulled off her top, which left the other woman wearing only her panties. Regina marveled the sight in front of her: even though it was dark, she could still make out Emma's curves, toned stomach, and hardened nipples. She wanted nothing more than to touch - even taste - every inch of Emma's exposed skin.

Her nightgown was discarded soon afterwards as Emma guided it off her and slumped back to their previous position, her lips searching for Regina's as her thumb returned to play with Regina's hardened left nipple. The touch of Emma's warm hand felt heavenly against her breast, and kissing Emma was nothing like any other kiss she had experienced before. She simultaneously never wanted Emma's lips to leave hers and Emma's mouth to touch her everywhere.

Emma took her time teasing her, her lips eventually moving along Regina's jaw and collarbone before she stopped at the valley of her breasts. Regina raised her head from the pillow to look at Emma and was met with a gaze full of want. She could feel her arousal building up and her underwear starting to get wet as Emma's skillful mouth moved to play with each of her nipples one at a time. Emma's lips, tongue, and teeth drew uncontrolled moans from her, and she really wished Emma would be willing to move her mouth or hands further south soon.

"Emma. Please," she whined, her breathing heavy. She wasn't normally one to beg, but with Emma above her like this, her mouth seemed to have a mind of its own.

"What?" Emma asked after swirling her tongue on Regina's nipple once more and drawing another moan from her.

"Touch me," Regina said before tentatively bucking her hips. She needed some friction so badly it wasn't funny anymore.

"Oh, God," Emma muttered on her breast. "Yeah, okay. You're sure, right?"

"Very," she responded, even though she knew she wouldn't necessarily think this was a good idea in the morning. She just couldn't bring herself to care, not in this situation, not when everything felt so right and Emma's mouth felt so good on her.

Regina felt Emma's left hand slide down her stomach as the other woman propped herself up on her right elbow and met Regina's eyes in the dim light of the room. Her anticipation kept building more and more as she felt Emma's fingers play with the waistband of her underwear for a while before sliding in and cupping her. For a moment, Emma kept her hand completely still, but then she started drawing her fingers along Regina's folds.

She realized how wet she truly was only when Emma touched her and her fingers played with her labia. Emma kept teasing her, her fingers circling her entrance for a short while before she brushed her clit with her thumb and drew another uncontrolled moan from her. She hoped Emma would go further than that and give her the release she was aching for.

Emma's train of thought seemed to be similar to hers as the woman finally pulled Regina's panties down and threw them on the floor. The angle of Emma's fingers changed straight away, and Regina reveled in the sensation as Emma started kissing her again. Emma's fingers played with her folds tantalizingly slowly and occasionally brushed her clit, but never entered her.

"Emma, please…" she started. She would burst soon.

"What do you want?" Emma breathed out her between kisses.

"I want you… to stop teasing."

"You want me to go down on you?" Emma asked, her voice uncertain. She had stopped kissing Regina and was looking at her expectantly.

She hadn't even been thinking about that, but the thought seemed incredibly appealing. She could feel her heart rate increase from before and her breath hitched before she could respond. "Not what I had in mind, but that sounds even better." She paused. "If that's what you want."

"You have no idea." Emma let out a relieved breath and pressed a chaste kiss on her lips before kissing her way down her body. Regina's anticipation grew yet again when she felt Emma's breath near the apex of her thighs as the woman situated herself between her legs and started placing kisses on her inner thighs.

Emma took her sweet time taunting her, her kisses slow and teasing, and never where Regina wanted them the most. In Regina's opinion, Emma took forever, kissing and nipping at Regina's skin and humming in appreciation. The ministrations of Emma's mouth combined with the sounds she was making made Regina's arousal grow even greater still as she consciously fought to keep her breathing even.

Emma eventually seemed to get tired of teasing her as she moved her mouth between her legs and licked her way up Regina's slit. Regina's hips bucked in response to meet Emma's face, the first touch with Emma's tongue having felt absolutely heavenly. She needed more.

"Emma, please."

Emma kept licking her folds slowly and bringing her tongue to her entrance, but she kept it away from Regina's clit where she could've found her release. Regina grew frustrated. She was sure Emma was doing this on purpose when she knew how much she needed to come.

Then, without a warning, Emma found her clit with her tongue and started drawing circles on it. Regina's hips bucked again and she let out a content sob. Finally.

Emma seemed to realize she had found the right spot since she stopped teasing and continued the circular movement of her tongue. Regina started to feel her orgasm drawing nearer as Emma continued her ministrations, but it wasn't until Emma slipped two fingers inside her that Regina was certain she would come any second.

"Please don't stop, just keep doing that. I'm almost there," she told Emma, not wanting the other woman to stop when she was _so_ close to her release. Emma had teased her enough.

Luckily for her, Emma did just as she was told and kept going until Regina came undone under her fingers and tongue. Regina's hips kept rising off the bed and she arched her back as she tried to draw the orgasm out as long as possible. Emma's mouth and fingers didn't leave her until she stopped moving and her hips were back on the bed.

She eventually came back down from her high, her breathing erratic and her entire body well-sated. She soon realized they were anything but done when Emma came back up and kissed her, her lips tasting like her and chin still moist from her journey down.

She flipped them over, wanting nothing more than to repay the favor Emma had just done for her. Emma yelped in surprise, but let out a nervous yet excited laugh afterwards as she brought her hands to Regina's bare hips.

She brought her lips to Emma's again, tasting herself on the other woman's mouth as she brought her knee to the apex of Emma's thighs. She could feel how wet Emma was through the soaked fabric, which encouraged her to continue and made her stomach do somersaults; Emma wanted her this much and was this wet. They were really doing this.

Her knee against Emma's groin seemed to be pleasurable for the blonde as the other woman ground against Regina's thigh and brought her hands to Regina's ass, encouraging her to move even closer and press against her harder. They stayed there grinding for a while and moaned into their sloppy yet firm kisses as Regina's hand moved to palm Emma's breasts.

Soon, the bucking of Emma's hips became hard to ignore, so Regina slid her right hand down the woman's body, towards her groin. They were still kissing, although they took a small break when Emma whimpered "yess" when Regina's fingers passed the waistband of her panties and met the blonde's moist curls.

Touching Emma was nothing like it had been in her countless fantasies - it was so much better. Emma felt warm and slick against her fingers as she ran them along Emma's folds after the soaked panties were discarded on the floor somewhere next to hers. The way the woman responded to her touches by lifting her hips, breathing hard, and grunting made Regina aroused all over again.

"Regina," Emma breathed out, her mouth open even after she had finished talking. Regina saw her eyes were closed, and she could feel Emma's hips arching from the bed.

"Yes?"

"Insi- oh!" Emma didn't get to finish her sentence as Regina pushed her index finger inside her. She curled it as they kept kissing. Emma moved her hips to meet Regina's thrusts and Regina enjoyed the feeling of Emma's inner walls around her finger that was soon accompanied by a second one.

"Regina?" Emma mumbled.

"Yes?"

"You feel _so_ good."

"Likewise, Emma," she smirked. She loved the slickness around her fingers that soon dripped on her palm.

Emma's whines and grunts urged her on, and she eventually sought out Emma's clit with her thumb. It had been a long while since she had been with anyone, but she still seemed to be able to make Emma react to her touch as she kept circling her clit and curled her fingers over and over again.

Soon, Emma's inner walls started clenching around her digits, and the woman's breathing became more erratic. They had stopped kissing altogether, Regina too enthralled by Emma's face in the dim light and Emma too focused on what she was feeling. Her mouth was agape, her breathing was partially coming out in gasps, and her brow was adorably scrunched in concentration.

"Regina, I'm so close," Emma panted as her hips kept arching off the bed to meet Regina's thrusts and the flicks of the thumb on her clit. "I'm so…" She didn't finish her sentence, but let out a loud moan instead as she finally reached her climax.

Seeing and feeling Emma come took her breath away. She cursed the fact that she couldn't magically enhance the lighting of the room so she could've seen Emma's face better, but she reveled in the sensation anyway, listening to the blonde's uneven loud breathing and feeling her inner walls clench around her fingers.

She waited for Emma's breathing to even out before she pulled her fingers out and brought them to her lips, getting a taste of Emma before kissing her again.

"Regina," Emma whispered after they had stopped kissing and Regina was lying on top of her, her head resting on Emma's bare chest. "I don't wanna go back." Her voice got even quieter. "I don't wanna get a divorce."

Regina didn't either, but she said nothing, her fingers barely stroking Emma's side as she could feel herself drift to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Honestly, it feels like it's been 500 years since I've last written smut so idk but I hope it wasn't too bad! I had to publish this because I just ended up rereading and overthinking, and I couldn't take it anymore lol. Thoughts?
> 
> Four chapters left, I think.


	11. Chapter 11

Regina woke up in Emma's arms. She kept her eyes closed for a while, reveling in the sensation of Emma's right arm around her waist and Emma's thighs against her behind. They were covered only by a sheet, neither of them having dressed after sex, and Emma's bare breasts were pressing into Regina's back.

She almost fell back asleep thinking how amazing it would be to wake up like this every morning, but she quickly realized Emma was stroking her stomach, which evidently meant the other woman was awake. Regina didn't know whether to continue pretending to be asleep and enjoy Emma's touch or wake up and face the reality of the situation. To her (and probably Emma's, too) disappointment, she chose the latter option and slowly turned around to face the other woman.

Emma appeared awkward and vulnerable as she pulled her hand away from Regina's stomach; she looked like she half expected to get yelled at even though yelling at Emma was the last thing Regina wanted to do. To be honest, Regina had no idea what she wanted anymore.

She fought a scoff. That was a lie. She knew exactly what she wanted, but she had no idea what she should've done. Her heart told her to be selfish and stay in this bed forever and kiss Emma good morning, but her head told her to be responsible and get up and help Emma find the happy ending she deserved.

She looked at Emma. It would've been so easy to just close the distance between them and brush her lips against Emma's one more time. Then another time, and then harder until she would be pulling Emma's lower lip between hers and Emma would be sliding on top of her again.

It had just felt so right to kiss Emma; to breathe her in and feel close to her, to touch her everywhere and feel connected in a way they never had before. Giving in had been everything Regina could've ever imagined and more; being with Emma was even more intoxicating and overwhelming than doing magic with her. It took all of Regina's willpower to snap out of it and keep herself from kissing her.

She made a compromise and kissed Emma on the cheek, for the last time as a goodbye to what they had shared the previous night. Emma looked confused and borderline heartbroken, but Regina forced herself to get up and do the right thing.

"I'm going to take a shower," she stated. Her voice was awfully strained. She wasn't sure if it was because she had just woken up or because she was fighting back tears. Probably both. "Do you want to get breakfast together before checkout?"

"Yeah," Emma replied as she got up, the sheet falling down and baring her naked chest Regina remembered touching all too well. She turned her eyes away from Regina and looked at the clothes on the floor instead. "Let's do that. I should probably pack first. I always forget something. Still not that used to carrying too much stuff around with me."

"Do that," she replied as she made a mental note to make sure Emma had actually packed all her things before they left. "I'll be right back."

Emma didn't respond anything to that, so Regina made her way to the bathroom without any further comments. It wasn't until she turned the shower on that she let tears stream down her face.

* * *

"Hi, Regina," sounded Marian's expectant voice behind her.

Regina turned around. Marian was almost bouncing on her feet, her eyebrows raised and her hands behind her back. They were at one of the souvenir shops at McCarran airport after their security check. She had been planning to buy something Henry could wear, perhaps a shirt or two, but Marian seemed to have other plans to pass Regina's time.

"Marian," she told replied as casually as she could. "How are you? Excited to see Roland again today?"

Marian shook her head amusedly. "Of course. Even though I've called him and know Robin is taking good care of him, I can't wait to see him soon."

"I know the feeling," Regina replied. She couldn't wait to see Henry again. He had texted "looks like you're having a lot of fun :D" after after receiving his mothers' "selfie", but it was different to actually be around him and being able to make sure he was okay.

"So," Marian continued with growing curiosity in her voice.

"Yes?" she answered, not really looking forward to the conversation that was about to take place. She was absolutely certain Marian was going to bring up Regina's relationship with Emma.

"Fine." Marian sighed dramatically. "I'll just ask you. Did anything happen with Emma last night? I really have to know because I'm not coming to Storybrooke with all of you."

Regina tried to contemplate if she should just deny everything or say she'd just rather not talk about her personal life. She settled for the latter option, deciding that Marian could probably tell if she was lying anyway. It wasn't like she would be scheming to get her and Emma together all the way from New York.

"I'd rather not talk about it since it hardly matters," she said as casually as she could.

"Oh, my God, Regina! You didn't!"

"Didn't what?" Zelena asked as she suddenly appeared behind three closeby mannequins with Kathryn. She was carrying several shopping bags: winning ten thousand dollars seemed to make her spend more money than she usually did. Regina had heard Zelena had stayed at the casino with Granny and (to Regina's surprise) Belle until closing time and won even more money.

"I think she slept with Emma last night," Marian whispered to Kathryn and Zelena.

"Well, they shared the room and they both slept there," Kathryn quipped, although her expression was turning too amused and knowing.

"You know what I mean!" Marian shook her head while Zelena's mouth was gaping open. "Regina, what are you going to do?"

She rolled her eyes and started walking in the opposite direction. People had meddled in her love life enough for a lifetime, and she really didn't need anyone telling her their view on her marriage.

"Regina!" Kathryn hissed, her voice following her. "You have to talk to someone."

Regina felt annoyed that she couldn't just magic herself away; or better yet, magic her sister and the two stubborn women she had grown to be friends with out of the store so she could finish shopping in peace. She was glad she had made friends and people didn't view her as the enemy anymore, but being feared by everyone had had its perks - no one dared to question her when she told them to leave her alone.

"Actually," she said, "I really don't _have_ to do anything. I don't know why you have this sudden interest in my life and can't just let it go. Marian hasn't even told me about her relationship with Mulan."

"Um," Marian responded, suddenly avoiding eye contact.

"Well, it was implied," Kathryn finally said. "And also pretty obvious. I mean, we all know, but didn't just make a big deal out of it."

"Who's we?" Marian asked.

"Pretty much everyone on this trip," Zelena explained matter-of-factly as she picked invisible lint from her sleeve as Kathryn nodded.

"Oh. Well, I guess we just didn't feel the need to bring it up just yet."

"And I respect that," Kathryn said. "I'm glad you've found happiness with her and Roland in New York…"

"There was no reason to meddle in your life," Zelena cut in before Kathryn had the chance to finish her sentence. "The same can't be said about Regina; she's making a terrible mistake if she won't let herself be with Emma."

"They're practically married anyway," Kathryn muttered under her breath and rolled her eyes.

"Excuse me?" Regina said. This was getting downright ridiculous.

"That's what I thought!" Marian beamed.

"Enough!" Regina raised her voice. A shop assistant glared at her from the register, but Regina glared back, which made the young woman to turn back to whatever she had been doing. "I am not going to stay married to Emma. We all know this was just a drunken mistake and we need to get divorced as soon as possible. The fact that you're even thinking about anything else is astounding."

"You really aren't going to consider staying married?" Marian asked. She looked like a child who had been told Christmas was canceled.

"Are you serious?"

"Of course we are," Kathryn responded. "You've both obviously fallen for each other."

"I've already told you what I think. I must say I'm with these two," Zelena said as she waved her hand towards Marian and Kathryn.

Regina closed her eyes for a moment and brought her hand to her temple. She was getting a headache. "I can't believe we're having this conversation _again._ No, we're not staying married. It was never my plan to get married after what happened with my first marriage."

"Well, that's understandable," Kathryn agreed after a small break as Marian kept nodding next to her. "But that doesn't mean you can't be with Emma."

"Who are you? Tinkerbell?" she spat. The last time someone had been convinced someone had been meant to be with Regina, Regina had gotten her heart broken once again. There was no point in repeating the inevitable; even if she could convince herself that she would be good enough for Emma, something bad would happen eventually anyway. These things never lasted for her.

"No," Kathryn said, shaking her head in confusion as if she hadn't fully gotten the reference.

"Look, Regina," Marian continued. "You can't really keep beating yourself up like this. Emma clearly likes you too. More than likes you."

"That's not the main issue here, and you all know it."

"Honestly, Regina. I just want what's best for you. I'm your friend," Marian explained. Regina couldn't disagree with that, although she couldn't understand how they had become friends in the first place. No one had seen it coming. The same could be said about her falling in love with Emma Swan. "You have worked really hard for your redemption and you can't keep Emma away for that kind of reason when the outcome just hurts you both and you both would just want to be together."

"That's what I said!" Zelena exclaimed.

She was just about to give Marian and Zelena a grand counterargument when Emma walked into the store and she couldn't remember what she had been about to say. The three women's eyes followed her line of sight and returned back to her with knowing smirks.

"We'll leave you to have a moment to yourselves," Kathryn stated and walked out of the store, Marian right on her heels. Zelena mouthed a "talk to her" before following the two.

Regina rolled her eyes at her friends and sister, but she could soon feel the atmosphere of the room change as Emma walked towards her. The memories from the previous night were back all at once, and she had trouble thinking straight.

"Hi," Emma started carefully as she approached Regina. "What's up?"

"Oh, just looking for something for Henry since we have…" she took a look at the big clock outside of the store, "thirty minutes until the gate opens. How was lunch?" She knew Emma had gone to have lunch with Snow, Ruby, and Mulan despite the fact that they had breakfast just before leaving the hotel.

"It was good. Grilled cheese."

Regina couldn't fight a scoff.

"They would've had salad for you, you know," Emma told her after letting out a small laugh. She wasn't looking her in the eye and she was fumbling with one of the shirts on the rack next to her. "If you had come with us."

"I'm sure," she said and held a small pause. "Emma," she continued and watched the other woman turn her expectant gaze to her. Suddenly, Regina didn't know what to say. She was supposed to bring up the divorce - she had meant to ever since she had left their bed that morning - but she just couldn't get the right words out.

Damn her sister and her friends and their hope speech.

"Would you like to get a drink with me?" _What was she doing?_

"Wait… Right now?" Emma scrunched her face in confusion. "We need to board the plane in…" Emma pulled out her phone, "twenty-five minutes."

"Right," she replied. What had gotten into her? She couldn't be asking Emma to day-time drink with her in a moment like this. She should've been suggesting a divorce. "Of course."

"Rain check? The Mayor of Storybrooke gave me a few bottles of the best apple cider I have ever tasted for my housewarming party, and I still have one of them left." Emma had a playful hint in her tone, but there was still fear in her eyes, as if she was half expecting rejection from Regina.

And even though rejecting Emma's invitation would've been the sensible thing to do, Regina still found herself saying, "Sure. Why not?"

"Great," Emma replied, a smile breaking its way onto her lips. "So you're getting something for Henry?"

"Yes," she replied, happy about the change of topic. "I might get him a shirt or two. I feel like he's getting taller every day. He needs new clothes."

"We could get him a new scarf," Emma proposed as they walked past a rack of scarves. "He's been wearing that one scarf for as long as I can remember."

Regina knew the scarf Emma was talking about. She also knew Henry wouldn't want to wear another one. "Trust me, I know. I've bought him several after getting him that one, and he just ends up wearing the old one."

Emma let out a laugh, and it took Regina a moment to realize she had stopped walking to stare at Emma's face. She mentally chastised herself for being so transparent, although it seemed that Emma didn't notice, her gaze shifting between the scarves in front of them.

"I don't get it. I'd imagine he'd want to wear a new one," Emma wondered out loud, her smile never leaving her lips.

"Says the woman who still wears that same god-awful leather jacket she did when I first met her," Regina pointed out. Emma was wearing her red leather jacket again now that they were at the airport and it would soon be colder both on the plane and in Maine.

"Hey," Emma retorted playfully. "I bet you secretly like my leather jacket."

Regina scoffed and rolled her eyes. "I most certainly do not."

Emma's smile changed into a knowing smirk. "Oh, my god. You do!"

Regina couldn't believe this. It wasn't like most of her secret feelings hadn't been revealed during the last two days, but did Emma have to find out about her opinion on the leather jacket too? "Don't be preposterous."

"Regina, I can always tell when you're lying," Emma pointed out. She was still smirking at Regina, as beautiful as ever.

Regina shook her head. She could feel a blush spreading on her cheeks. This was getting ridiculous.

"Just pick a scarf, Emma," she replied as she grabbed one of the shirts she had been looking at earlier and made her way to the register.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Their talk about Henry's scarf was inspired by [ Liv's tweet](https://twitter.com/parrillaregalx/status/733297683465703424).
> 
> Thanks to Tris again for being an awesome beta!


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, I'm back! Swan Queen Week was exhausting (I wrote three new stories (and made a [gifset](http://queenssaviour.tumblr.com/tagged/swanqueenweek) for each day), so feel free to check them out). Anyway, I'm back to writing this fic again!
> 
> Thanks to Tris again for being a stellar beta!

"Mom, you _have_ to go!" Henry groaned.

" _I_ don't have to do anything, I believe," Regina responded as she threw some pieces of onion into the sauce she was currently cooking. "The same can't be said about your homework. Did you finish it already?"

They had come back from Vegas one week ago - five days if you wanted to get technical - and she and Emma still hadn't had that bottle of cider waiting in Emma's apartment. They hadn't really spent time alone together or discussed what had happened in Vegas, both of them avoiding the large elephant in the room as long as they could. What was weird was that Henry, the stubborn teenager he had become, seemed to be very insistent on getting his mothers to spend time together without him.

Why the sudden interest in she and Emma spending time together, Regina did not know. She and Emma had decided it would be for the best that Henry wouldn't know about what happened in Vegas. The last time they had briefly discussed the topic, Emma had said, "What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas", so Regina knew the other woman was on the same page with her and hadn't told their son anything.

That's why she was so perplexed because of Henry's constant questions about Emma; they had only increased ever since Regina had returned from her trip. It seemed to her Henry tried to be subtle, but failed miserably since his queries about any other topic beside Emma and herself were few and far between.

She really needed to get to the bottom of this, but when she had asked for the first time, Henry had just said he was worried about Emma after her canceled wedding. That would've been plausible, but it didn't explain the constant questions about when his two mothers would spend time together without him. He had always wanted to be a part of their get-togethers before this. Maybe it was because he was growing up, but Regina couldn't put herself past it.

"I just really think she could use her best friend right now. It's Saturday. Just go," Henry groused as Regina kept shaking her head. "Why not?"

"I'm not sure that's necessary, Henry. Besides, we see each other all the time, anyway." They really did. They had continued meeting up on their lunch breaks on Tuesdays and Thursdays as if nothing had happened. Regina hadn't mentioned getting divorced and Emma hadn't made any questions about it. Emma still came over to the mansion, and Regina wouldn't have told her not to in a million years, even though she could spot lingering gazes she decided not to comment on. She was now fairly certain those gazes had always been there, but she just hadn't noticed them before. "And we had family dinner last night. Why are you so insistent on us spending time together? We spend time with you, and we're friends. You know that."

"Yeah, but _m_ _ooooom,"_ he said, putting emphasis on the last word. "You got back almost a _week_ ago, and you haven't had one of your girls' nights. You deserve some time off. And you don't want her to feel like you don't wanna hang out with her, right?"

"Of course not." She definitely didn't want that.

"So, call her!" Henry exclaimed. Even though he was now taller than she was, his eyes still had some of their childlike excitement. "I'll look after the food."

"Alright," she sighed as she grabbed her phone off the kitchen island and walked out of the room.

She took a deep breath. This was ridiculous. They had spent evenings together countless times. She shouldn't have suddenly been so nervous.

Then again, they had never spent a more than a few minutes in private after their return to Storybrooke. They had either been at Granny's, where they were surrounded by people, or spending a family night with Henry, Emma's parents and the woman's little brother. As much as Henry had tried to leave them alone after dinner, Emma had always made some sort of excuse to flee before either of them would bring up the fact that they were still married.

She shook her head and dialed Emma's number. Just as she started to plan what she should say, Emma picked up her phone. Fantastic.

"Regina, hi," she heard from the other end of the line.

"Hey," she started as casually as she could. "I was wondering if you'd like to have that glass of cider tonight after you get off from work."

There was a small pause. "Sure, I'd love to. I'll see you in two hours at my place?"

"Sounds perfect," Regina responded. Then a thought came to her. "I'll bring you some leftovers if you want me to. I'm making enchiladas."

"Great! Thanks! It's a date…" Emma stated and stopped abruptly. "I mean…"

Regina shook her head even though she knew Emma couldn't see it. What were they even doing? "See you in two hours, Emma," she concluded and ended the call.

* * *

Emma seemed to be much happier these days. When Regina had first seen her in her new apartment, she had already been engaged to Hook and hence had an aura of worry around her. Now that she was single - well, not single, married, but not to Hook - Emma smiled at her carefreely as she dug into the leftovers Regina had brought her.

She was grateful Emma's apartment didn't smell like Hook anymore. Even though they hadn't technically been living together, Hook somehow had managed to invite himself over too often for Regina's liking. It had seemed to her that it had also been too often for Emma's liking as well, although the man clearly hadn't known how to take a hint.

Hook wasn't bothering Emma anymore. Regina had been daydreaming of different ways to punish him for how he had treated Emma, but Emma had beat her to it. One day when Regina had been on her way to Granny's, Hook had been begging for Emma to take him back, grabbed her arm and hadn't taken no for an answer, so Emma had turned him into a toad right in front or Regina. It hadn't been the most original solution, but Regina had been impressed by both Emma's magical ability and mental strength.

"So he really wore his old scarf again today?" Emma asked her when they had finished eating and they were sipping cider on the living room couch of the two-bedroom apartment.

"Yes. Just like I told you he would," Regina replied, smiling at the stubbornness of their son. "So," she continued, her tone getting more serious because of what she was about to say.

"So," Emma replied.

"About the… divorce," Regina started, studying Emma's face. The blonde's expression fell when the words hit her, which made Regina feel a pang of guilt in her gut. She wasn't sure if she wanted to bring this up again. It just brought both her and Emma pain.

Regina shook her head. Four years ago, she would've been happy to be able to hurt Emma like this. It was weird how everything had changed.

"Oh, yeah, that…" Emma mumbled and turned her gaze to the glass she was holding.

They stayed quiet for a short while. Regina had thought this would be best for Emma, for both of them, but when she saw Emma's face and the pain she was about to cause her, she couldn't open her mouth and make this final.

But then again, wouldn't being with Emma cause the other woman more pain? Wouldn't Emma be more hurt after she'd realized she had given up a life she could spend with anyone for the woman who had tried to kill her mother for years? These things never ended well for Regina. Wouldn't -

"You know what, Regina?" Emma said, interrupting Regina's train of thought. "I think this is bullshit."

"Excuse me?"

"I'm just gonna be honest here. I used to think you couldn't feel anything for me, but I don't think that's true. Not after what happened in Vegas." Emma's voice was wavering a bit, but she still kept talking. Her fingers were clutching the glass she was holding, and she still wasn't looking at Regina. "If anything you told me that night we got married is true, then this isn't about you actually wanting to get an annulment or divorce or whatever. This is about you having some weird internal conflict about finally wanting to do the right thing and thinking I deserve better... which isn't your decision to make, by the way."

"Emma," she started, but nothing else came out. She was too taken aback by her speech.

"I'm finally saying what I want, and we both know what that is by now," Emma said, finally meeting her eyes with a stern gaze. "The thing is… If you really don't wanna be with me, just say the word, Regina, and I'll never talk about this again. We'll get divorced, and that's that."

Regina closed her eyes and brought her hands to her temple. She had been so determined to keep away from Emma and promised herself never to let herself get in the way of Emma's happiness, but she honestly felt so conflicted. She didn't want to get divorced anymore and she almost forgot why she even should and now Emma was saying all these things.

"Emma, I don't deserve you, and you deserve someone worthy of you," she repeated her mantra one more time. "Someone who can make you happy. Preferably someone who hasn't tried to kill your parents and poison you." She let out a small tired laugh.

"Regina…" Emma said quietly as she brought her hand to cover hers. "You make me happy."

She wanted to argue, to tell Emma she needed to stop being ridiculous and find her sense of reason, but she couldn't do it anymore. Emma's hand felt so nice on hers, and she just felt so tired of fighting what she was feeling, especially now that it was more than obvious that her feelings were reciprocated. Emma wanted to be with her, and by some miracle Emma thought Regina could make her happy.

"Look, I'm not saying we'd need to start living a married life right away... whatever that means," Emma continued uncertainly when Regina wasn't saying anything. "I don't want you to be married against your will ever again. Or you to be guided by anything else other than your own free will. I'm just asking you to give this… _us…_ a shot, because I really l…" there was hesitation in Emma's voice, and they both knew what she had been about to say, "like you, and for some miraculous reason you seem to feel the same way about me."

Regina raised her gaze from her cider glass to look at Emma's face. She watched Emma pull her hand away and scrunch her brow nervously, and in that moment, Regina just gave up. She thought about how happy Emma had seemed in those photos, kissing her after their ridiculous wedding. How her face lit up every time she was around, how it had lit up even when Emma had been unhappily engaged and hadn't been smiling much. She thought about Emma clinging onto her like a koala bear when they had slept together and the pain on her face when she had mentioned the divorce.

She also really thought about how much she loved Emma and wanted to kiss her and never let her go.

"Okay," she said, her voice barely a whisper.

"Wait, what?" Emma said, her tone surprised. She turned on the couch to look at Regina.

"Let's… not get the annulment," she replied, rolling her eyes, which made Emma bring her hands to her mouth.

"Are you serious?" Emma asked. The hands covering her mouth muffled the sound, but Regina still heard what she was saying.

"Yes," she replied and watched disbelief spread all over Emma's features. "I'm not saying we should start acting like a married couple, although Kathryn and Marian said we already do, but maybe we could try to give this a shot if that really makes you happy."

"Oh, my God," Emma said as she lowered her hands back to her lap. "Wait. Does this make _you_ happy? I don't want you to do this out of obligation to make me happy because you think you have done some things that led me…"

"Emma." She brought her finger to Emma's lips, and Emma's eyes followed her finger before she looked at Regina again."Have you not been paying attention? You _know_ that this is what I wanted, but never allowed myself to really dream of."

A relieved yet bashful smile spread on Emma's face as Regina dropped her hand. "Yeah, I know the feeling." She took a sip of her drink and put her glass on the coffee table in front of them. "So does this mean I can kiss you now?"

Regina let out a mixture of a shaky breath and laugh and suppressed the urge to roll her eyes. "Yes, you may kiss me now."

Emma took her hands in hers as she shifted on the couch so that their faces were mere inches apart. Regina felt Emma's eyes bore into hers, searching for any sign of regret of what she had just said, but she knew all there was for Emma to find was relief and adoration. She was tired of fighting what they both wanted.

Before Regina could interest Emma in a sarcastic remark or initiate the kiss herself, Emma's lips were on hers. The kiss was soft and sweet, not passionate and sloppy like during the night they had spent together, but full of promise and caring as Emma's lips brushed against hers. Regina could feel herself melt into the kiss, and she heard a content sigh leave one of them.

"You..." Emma started as she broke the kiss. She brought her thumb to Regina's cheekbone and stroked it before resting her hand on Regina's neck.

"What, Emma?"

"You wanna stay over for tonight?" Emma asked.

She thought about it. Henry was already asleep - or at least he should've been since it was way past his bedtime, and Zelena was in the mansion, so he had someone to look after him. Granted, with Zelena and Henry it wasn't always sure who looked after whom, but still.

They would meet up with the Charmings for Sunday brunch at Granny's the following day, so she could just transport to her bedroom before that, and no one would ever have to find out. Or they could even meet up with the others at Granny's.

Apparently, she took too long to answer, because suddenly Emma was saying, "I didn't mean you should do anything you don't wanna do, you know. We can take it slow. I don't wanna expect…"

She cut Emma short with a kiss on the blonde's lips. She kissed her more roughly this time, with her teeth and a hint of tongue, before pulling away and looking at Emma.

"Is that a yes?" Emma asked.

"Yes," she responded.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally... Two chapters left!


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is like 98% smut, so if that's not ur thing, feel free to skip it! One more chapter after this one! (I'm kinda unsure about this one tbh, but I hope you won't hate it... anywayyy... here we go)
> 
> Thanks to Tris again for beta reading and thanks to my (anonymous) friend for answering a couple of questions!

Regina had been in Emma's bedroom before. She had followed Emma there to help her organize her things on her moving day and the day after that, and she had even slept there after too much wine on a girls' night. (Emma had insisted she neither drive nor magic herself home and had been pretty adamant on Regina not sleeping on the couch, so they had eventually ended up sharing a bed.)

It was now clear that there had been more to the cuddling that had taken place then. It had been before the first time they had kissed, and Regina had been more than aware of her feelings towards Emma, but she had chosen not to act on any of them. It felt surreal to know that Emma had been pining for her too. She had momentarily felt like Emma's cuddling had been something other than platonic, but she had shaken the thought away and told herself to behave and be the friend Emma deserved.

There was a lot more than seemingly platonic cuddling about to happen in the bed tonight as Emma pulled her top off and threw her bra away before returning to kiss Regina's swollen lips. Regina couldn't suppress a smile as she brought her hands up to cup Emma's breasts and reveled in the way they felt in her hands. Emma's skin was so soft and felt wonderful.

"Do you like to be on top or bottom?" Emma asked her before giving Regina's bottom lip a small nip. Emma's fingers were at the waistband of her slacks, and they were about to fall on the bed. "Any preference?"

"Um," Regina replied, unsure what to answer.

She was always on top of everything, wasn't she? In the office, she was in charge. At home, she was in charge. She always told Emma what to do and what not to do. She was the Mayor. She had been the Queen. She had been the one to tell everyone what to do in every aspect of her life for quite some time now, yet...

"I don't know," she replied quietly. Her first instinct was to tell Emma what to do, but Emma asking her made her wonder if there was a part of her that wanted to give the reins to Emma and put her in charge.

"You know what I think, Regina?" Emma said, her voice teasing as she brought her mouth to Regina's ear and pulled the zipper of her slacks.

"What?"

"I think because you're always so uptight, you need to… let it go sometimes," Emma whispered in her ear. She brought her hand to Regina's chest and pushed her onto the bed, following in suit and straddling one of her thighs. "Just… Let someone else be the one in charge."

 _I'm not uptight,_ she almost protested, but she was too distracted by the sight in front of her. Emma was towering over her, her breasts bare and her hands on her thighs. There was an uncertain smile on her lips.

"Do you know what I mean?" Emma asked.

"I think I have an idea," she responded. Emma's words were like fire; even the idea of letting go and letting Emma be in charge turned her on. Her heartbeat got faster, her breathing got heavier, and the ache between her legs increased.

"And how does that sound?" Emma asked as she tentatively shifted her hips back and forth against Regina's thigh.

Regina wasn't sure if Emma even realized what she was doing, although that did nothing to relieve the ache between her legs. "It's an… interesting suggestion," she admitted.

"An interesting suggestion?" Emma repeated as she brought her hand between them and cupped Regina through her unzipped slacks.

A groan left her mouth before she could stop herself. She wanted Emma so badly, but at the same time, waiting made her all the more aroused. Her heartbeat got faster, her breathing got heavier, and the ache between her legs increased as Emma kept talking and touching her.

"Regina, you're so wet," Emma choked out. "I can feel it even now."

For a moment, Regina felt almost embarrassed, but that was before Emma lowered herself to Regina's level and crushed their lips together.

"That's so hot," Emma panted between kisses. She kept massaging Regina through her panties as her hand eventually pushed past the slacks.

Regina couldn't help but moan at the sensation of Emma's hand between her legs combined with kisses and the slight jerking of Emma's hips against her.

"I wanna fuck you so bad, Regina," Emma muttered.

"What's stopping you?" she quipped back. She tried to be obstinate, but her words came out as a plea.

"Nothing," Emma replied and flicked her wrist so that all their clothes were gone and her hand was cupping Regina.

"Fuck."

This was nothing like the first time they'd had sex. Where they had been tentative and teasing back then, this time Emma's index and middle finger thrust straight into Regina as she kept grinding her wet center against her thigh. Regina was completely lost at the sensation, Emma's cunt slick against her skin and the woman's fingers curling and plunging inside her. Emma's free hand soon came up to palm her breast as the fingers of her other hand curled and stroked a particularly sensitive patch inside her.

"Regina, you feel so good," Emma said, her voice so _endearing_ it was killing her.

"Likewise, Emma," she replied. She could hear her voice wasn't even and confident anymore, but it came out in raspy pants instead.

"That's what you said the last time," Emma replied, slightly out of breath as she kept grinding against Regina's thigh. Her face became thoughtful before she pulled the two fingers out and replaced them with three, stretching Regina just right.

"Fuck," was all that left her mouth. "Emma."

"Regina," the other woman replied cheekily, although her chest was heaving now too. "Anything else you want me to do?"

Regina could barely form a thought to register what Emma was saying, so all she could reply with was "Later." Emma seemed to approve of her answer as she continued the movements of her hands and hips and kept bringing Regina closer to her approaching climax.

A content sob left Regina when Emma brought a thumb to her clit and started circling it; her head was spinning and her hips rose of their own volition. Emma clearly knew what she was doing and how it affected Regina, her expression a mixture of cheeky pride and lust. She wanted to feel Emma around her fingers too, to make her feel like she was making Regina feel...

"Emma," Regina gasped as an idea sprung to her mind. "I need to touch you."

Emma moved her fingers from Regina's breast to her hand that was fisted in her sheets. She took it in hers and guided it between her legs where Regina was met with the wetness that had been spilling on her thigh ever since their clothes had disappeared.

Emma's free hand moved to palm her own breast as Regina flexed her fingers between Emma and her thigh. Regina had a really hard time concentrating on doing anything when Emma's fingers were working between her legs, but she still slipped two fingers inside her and was met with the slick warmth she remembered all too well from their night in Vegas. Emma's mouth fell open as she continued flexing her fingers, her attention still focused on Regina.

"I'm _so_ close, Emma. Don't stop," she said as they continued moving. Emma's skillful fingers and the sight in front of her – Emma palming her own breast as she rode Regina's fingers – finally pushed Regina over the edge, and she came, gasping and arching her back as much as she could without throwing Emma off from her thigh.

Her chest was heaving when she came down from her high, and it didn't take her long to realize that Emma was still moving against her. She gathered her thoughts and tried to put some effort into making Emma come and curled her digits inside the other woman, which earned a loud moan from the blonde. Emma eventually pulled her fingers out of Regina and brought them to her lips, licking them clean all the while she ground against Regina her eyes closed.

"I like how you taste," Emma breathed out.

Regina smiled. Emma was both adorable and incredibly sexy when she tasted her and her face scrunched in concentration. The woman opened her eyes and brought her hand from her mouth down to between her own legs, asking Regina a silent question as she did so. Regina barely nodded, and soon her fingers were accompanied by Emma's, the other woman's index finger flicking her clit as Regina's fingers curled inside her and met the thrusts of her hips.

"Emma," Regina marveled at the sight in front of her as their eyes locked. Emma was close. A thought sprung to her, something out of her countless fantasies starring Emma, and she really felt like she wanted to voice her wishes out loud but couldn't get the words out.

"Yeah?" Emma asked, even though she must've had hard time forming any coherent thoughts. She still looked at Regina questioningly as she touched herself and ground against Regina, and Regina knew she could talk to her.

"About the things I'd like you to do…" She swallowed.

"Yeah?" Emma said, slightly out of breath but still listening. "Tell me."

"I… You don't have to, I mean," she started. This was ridiculous. This was Emma, and Regina normally had no hard time saying what she thought.

Emma stopped moving her hand on her clit and slowed the movements of her hips. _No, no._ This wasn't what she wanted Emma to do.

"Come on. You can tell me," Emma said with so much caring in her eyes despite her arousal.

"Would you… like to sit on my face?" Regina asked. She broke the eye contact. Somehow it was too hard to look at Emma right now. She hadn't even performed any kind of oral sex on her yet.

"Really?" Emma asked with a hint of amusement in her voice, which made Regina's gaze snap right back on her. This wasn't funny at all. "You want me to come on your face?"

Regina replied with a simple roll of her eyes.

"I'd love to," Emma breathed out, proving all Regina's worries to be irrelevant. "Wait."

Her eyes followed Emma as the other woman shifted, first to hover over her midriff and press a kiss on her mouth, then to hover above her face, her knees on each side of Regina's head and her hands leaning on the headboard behind her. Regina saw Emma's dripping cunt up close now, wet labia and some trimmed pubic hair, and she could smell her, too. She wanted nothing more than to bring her tongue to Emma's slit and finally have a taste of her and make her come with her mouth.

"You sure about this?" Emma asked as she looked down at her.

"Yes," Regina replied, her voice low as she rolled her eyes again. "Just sit on my face, Emma."

Emma's nervous smile as she lowered herself onto Regina's face sent a tinge of arousal between Regina's legs. It didn't matter that she had had an amazing orgasm mere minutes ago; she was anything but done for the night. When Emma's folds finally met her mouth, she took a long swipe along her slit before pushing her tongue inside Emma and earning a deep throaty "Oh" from the woman above her. She could finally taste her, Emma's arousal thick and tangy in her mouth as she moved her tongue.

Her eyes flickered closed as she kept licking Emma's labia and moving her tongue in and out before bringing her hands to Emma's ass and urging her closer to her face. Emma tentatively started moving her hips in search of an orgasm, trapping Regina's head between her thighs as she rode Regina's tongue. Regina couldn't help but notice how tight the muscles under her hands were.

"Oh, God, Regina," Emma mumbled when Regina slid left her arm around Emma's thigh and brought her thumb to her clit. "Oh, God. Yes. Yes. Yes."

She kept moving her tongue as much as she could while she started circling Emma's clit with her thumb. She had definitely been in more comfortable positions before, but she didn't care: the way Emma was writhing and gasping above her was so rewarding she would've tried this again in a heartbeat. After a while, she doubled the efforts of her thumb on Emma's slippery clit, which finally pushed the other woman over the edge; Emma moaned and gasped as she came, and Regina kept flicking her clit until Emma moved one of her legs.

"Wow, I don't even know how to move without falling down on your face or something," Emma joked, out of breath. She finally was able to move with Regina's assistance, and soon she was lying on the bed next to her and stroking her stomach. "Hey."

"Hey," Regina responded. She must've looked so disheveled, her hair and makeup ruined and her face covered in Emma's wetness, but she didn't care.

Emma didn't seem to be bothered by Regina's looks either as she brought her mouth to hers again and pressed a sweet lingering kiss on her lips.

"You are amazing," Emma told her when they broke apart. There was so much adoration on her face Regina wasn't sure how she'd ever be able to deal with it.

"You're not so bad yourself," she responded with a smirk in her eyes.

Emma rolled her eyes and rolled on top of her again. "Yeah?"

"Most definitely."

"How would you feel about a second round?" Emma asked as she lowered her hand between them and towards the apex of Regina's legs.

"I'm in," Regina laughed as she pulled Emma down into another kiss.


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this.... has been sitting in my drafts for a year. during this time i moved to the states, actually went to vegas (i didn't need to do much research since i'd already done that for the fic lmao), and moved back to europe, so.... yeah. i wasn't happy with it and got really frustrated, but then i deleted a big chunk of text, reread this like 10 times, and made dozens of changes, so i might as well post it.
> 
> many thanks for tris and ida for betaing this chapter (thank you thank you thank you) and to aimee and pleth for coming up with two awesome twitter usernames.
> 
> and thank YOU if you made it this far.

Regina was smiling.

It was weird how much could change in two weeks. If she had been asked before their trip what she’d imagine herself doing right now, she would’ve said getting ready for Sunday brunch at Granny’s  with her family and Emma’s horrid newly-wed husband. She wouldn’t have guessed that she would be making coffee in Emma’s kitchen in one of the other woman’s far too big t-shirts instead.

It was unexpected, but she wouldn’t have had it any other way.

There was a small part inside her that still told her that even though she by some miracle  seemed to be able to make Emma happy, these things never lasted for her. Things had gone south so many times when she had thought they had started looking up that it was hard for her to accept life could actually be like this. That she could have her happiness not only with her son but also his other mother.

“Morning,” Emma’s voice sounded by the kitchen door, and Regina almost dropped the coffee cup she’d been holding. “Wow, what’s wrong?”

Regina sighed. There was no point lying: Emma could always tell when she lied, and more importantly, if her past mistakes had taught her anything, that was no way to start a relationship.

“I was just wondering… I’m so  _ happy  _ right now.”

Emma looked confused. Her hair was tied in a messy ponytail, she was wearing only panties and a tank top, and there was a frown forming on her face. “And that’s bad because…?”  

“What if something bad happens again?” she started. “Every time I’ve let love into my life, it’s been taken away from me-”

“That’s not even true,” Emma said, her confusion transforming into…  _ relief? _

“How so?”

“You’ve let Henry into your life, and no one’s taking him away from you,” Emma pointed out as she started approaching Regina. “You have your sister… My parents. Family.  _ Our _ family.“

Regina stayed silent for a moment since she couldn't really argue with Emma there.

“I believe your luck has turned,” Emma whispered as she moved even closer to Regina and brought their lips into a slow lingering kiss. “And if something bad happens, we’ll figure it out. Together like always.” 

Regina nodded. That’s what they did and that’s what they’d always do. 

She couldn’t hold back a smile when Emma brought her mouth to hers again. The woman’s hands wandered to her waist and pulled her closer as Regina’s fingers tangled into blonde locks of hair. Emma’s lips felt soft against hers and her mind drifted back to the previous night, Emma’s weight above her and her mouth between the other woman’s legs for the first time.

“Em-ma,” she started as she tried to gather her thoughts while the other woman started drawing circles on her stomach through the fabric of her shirt. “Don’t start something you can’t finish.”

Emma’s mouth moved to kiss her neck. “Oh, trust me, Regina. I intend to finish.”

“Cocky, much?” Regina breathed out as she fought a laugh. 

“You like it,” Emma muttered to her neck between kisses as her hand moved up to cup Regina’s breast.

“I more than  _ like  _ you, Emma,” she confessed as her eyes fluttered closed.

“Is that so?” Emma asked. Even though the woman tried to keep up her confident demeanour, Regina knew her well enough to hear a slight trembling in her voice.

“Emma,” she said as she brought her hand to Emma’s neck and guided the other woman to look at her. She took a moment to collect her thoughts, to think about everything that had happened and everything she felt for Emma. She knew by now that she wouldn't be turning back anymore. 

“I love you,” she finally said. The words that she had been holding in for years were finally out, and instead of the fear and rejection that she had always been expecting, she felt relief. Emma’s face broke into a breathtaking smile and Regina couldn’t do anything but mirror the blonde’s expression like the fool in love she was.

“Yeah?” 

“Yes.”

Emma looked down, shaking her head as a smile tugged at the corners of her lips. “I love you too.”

“I know,” Regina said, unable to reply in any other way when the situation almost called for the response.

“Hey,” Emma said in mock outrage. “Stop quoting Star Wars in serious situations!”

“Oh, really, Emma? Why?” Regina challenged her. “Are you going to stop me?”

Emma moved even closer to her, her hands grabbing Regina’s hips as she whispered, “You have no idea what I’m capable of.”

Regina let out a scoff. Or at least she tried, but it came out as a whimper before she was able to stabilize her voice. “Can’t wait to find out.”

Emma smirked at that and pushed her harder against the kitchen table she was leaning on. Regina’s eyes fluttered closed again as Emma moved her mouth to kiss and nip at Regina’s neck. Despite the fact that they had done this before, Regina could still feel her heart pound so loudly she was certain even the neighbors could hear it. Emma was wonderful. Her touch was wonderful; her mouth was wonderful...

Her hands were wonderful. Regina’s fingers gripped the edge of the table as Emma’s ran up and down her sides until they stopped at the hem of the t-shirt she was wearing. She tried to keep her breathing even as Emma’s fingers ghosted over her thighs, but failed miserably when the other woman’s hands moved up and behind her to squeeze her ass.

“You’re not wearing any underwear,” Emma smirked into her neck. 

“I can clearly see where Henry gets his observant nature from,” Regina retorted. 

She couldn’t hold back a content sigh when Emma brought a thigh between her legs. She tentatively moved against it a couple of times, enjoying the friction the other woman’s leg brought, but all too soon,  Emma pulled her thigh away and Regina found herself missing the pressure the leg had brought. She also found herself lacking clothes when Emma snapped her fingers and her shirt was gone in a puff of smoke.

“I’m glad to see you can use your magic creatively in different situations,” she breathed out, amused.

“I had a good teacher,” Emma sniggered back at her. She brought her hands back to Regina’s bare thighs and lifted her up on the table before s he returned to kissing her, h er right hand cupping Regina’s breast and her left one moving up on her thigh.

“Are you seriously suggesting we fuck on this table?” Regina asked as she broke the kiss, light-headed. 

“Do you have something against sex on tables?” Emma asked in return as her thumb and index finger kept circling Regina’s nipple.

“No,” Regina confessed, trying to act nonchalant even though the entire situation was too much like in her countless fantasies; she could feel her face flush and wetness gather between her thighs. “I would’ve expected the first time to be in my office, though. Or perhaps the Sheriff’s station.”

“Oh, really?” Emma smirked, suddenly all too confident. “Would you like me to arrange that later, Madam Mayor?” 

“I wouldn’t be opposed to that, Sheriff Swan,” she admitted with an eye roll. 

“Can’t wait,” Emma replied before she lowered her head again and started kissing Regina’s neck.

Neck kisses were Regina’s favorite. Her skin was so sensitive; the way Emma worked with her lips, teeth, and tongue made her feel like she was on fire. She was pretty sure Emma knew it as she sucked her neck one last time before guiding Regina to lie down on the table.

She propped herself up on an elbow, unable to stop her chest from heaving as she watched Emma move down between her legs. The woman’s hot mouth started ghosting over the skin of her inner thighs, but never touched her folds, so she bucked her hips a bit and hoped Emma would take a hint. When that didn’t work, she cocked one of her legs so that the sole of her foot was on the table and her thighs were further apart, but Emma only brought one of her hands up to cup her breast.

Regina thought Emma would finally bring her mouth to her labia when the other woman’s mouth left her thighs and she moved upwards, but her frustration only grew when Emma moved to kiss her hip bones and stomach instead. Emma’s apt fingers kept playing with her nipple and massaging her breast as her other hand kept stroking her inner thigh, but she needed something more substantial. She needed Emma’s mouth to move lower.

“Mhmmm, Regina,” Emma hummed between kisses on Regina’s lower stomach.

“Yes, Emma?” Regina asked, trying to keep her voice even and sound like she wasn’t dying because of sexual frustration.

“You smell good.”

Regina fought the urge to roll her eyes. “I bet I taste even better.”

Emma laughed against her skin before hopping on the table and moving on top of her. Regina wondered if Emma’s table could take their weight, but she decided she was way beyond caring at this point. They could always fix the table, but her orgasm couldn’t wait much longer. 

“Yes, you do,” Emma replied and brought her lips to Regina’s. 

Lingering, chaste kisses soon turned into deeper firmer ones, and Regina couldn’t help but buck her hips in search of Emma’s thigh or anything else that could give her enough friction to get herself off. Emma acted seemingly unaffected by Regina’s despair as she pulled Regina’s lower lip between hers and moved her hand to her other nipple.  

Enough was enough.

“Emma, if you won’t let me come, I swear I’ll finish the job here in front of you myself,” she threatened the other woman. That wasn’t really a bad idea now that she thought of it: watching Emma watch her bring herself to the release the woman had kept from her.

Emma looked at her with so much amusement in her eyes Regina wanted to shake her. This was absolutely no time to play one of their games.

“Fine,” Emma sniggered before she pulled Regina’s lip between her teeth once more and squeezed her breast. “We can do that some other time, though.”

“What?”

“Later,” Emma said as she finally pushed two fingers inside Regina,  filling her in a way that was so satisfying she couldn’t hold back a content sob. She was so soaked and close and Emma moving her fingers felt vital. 

“Emma,” she said, her voice coming out almost as an uncharacteristic whine. “Fuck.”

“Hmm,” Emma barely responded as she started kissing Regina again. Their kisses became sloppy and careless as Emma moved her fingers inside Regina in a slow tantalizing rhythm, bringing her closer to the edge. “I love how wet you are for me.”

Regina fought back a moan. She wasn’t normally like this. She was always the one in control, no matter where she was, but Emma taking control like this and hovering above her and just  _ talking  _ to her made her so aroused it was incomprehensible.

Suddenly, much to Regina’s dismay (and Emma’s amusement, as she was almost laughing at Regina’s shocked face), Emma pulled her fingers out.

“No, Emma. Don’t you  _ dare  _ stop now,” she said between ragged breaths.

“Oh, I still plan to show what I’m capable of,” Emma quipped. “I just gotta move a little.”

“And tease me in the process?” She couldn’t believe this.

Emma held a small break. “And tease you in the process.”

She would _ have _ to stop giving Emma stupid ideas.

She stayed still as Emma moved from her lips to her clavicle and from her clavicle to the valley of her breasts and her stomach. The woman kept peppering small kisses on her skin as she continued her journey down, her left hand moving to cup Regina’s breast and her right arm snaking around her thigh. 

Emma kept teasing her a little while longer with some more kisses on her inner thighs, which honestly made Regina feel like she was about to combust, but then she  _ finally  _ brought her lips to Regina’s labia and pressed a kiss there before starting to lick her with surprising fervor. Emma’s tongue felt heavenly on her, and her enthusiasm accompanied with content humming made Regina flush. When Emma’s tongue brushed her clit a few times, she knew for sure she wouldn’t last long when the other woman would actually keep her tongue there.

“Emma…” she moaned, almost like a plea, her hand moving to Emma’s hair to tug her in place.

She could practically feel Emma smile against her. The other woman stopped moving for a while before she slowly brought a finger to her entrance and pushed three  _ (three?)  _ digits inside her to accompany her wetness.

Emma continued moving her fingers at a slow pace that Regina loved, her fingers curling with each deep thrust. Regina could feel her orgasm getting closer and closer, and when Emma finally brought her tongue to her clit - first to circle and flick it, then to suck it - Regina could feel herself clench around Emma’s fingers as she reached her climax.

She pulled Emma’s hair as she arched her back, trying to make her orgasm last longer. Emma pulled her fingers out and climbed up to kiss her only after her hips had stopped bucking and she had let go of her hair. 

“I love you so much,” Emma said before pressing another kiss on Regina’s lips. She was gazing at Regina from atop of her, her expression so full of love and adoration it was killing Regina.

“I love you too,” Regina breathed out, finally able to say the words without feeling guilty. This was them now.

She wouldn’t have had it any other way.

“The best breakfast I’ve had in a while, ” Emma stated.

“Don’t be so crass,” Regina retorted, even though she was stifling a laugh. Her breaths were still uneven and her chest was heaving, but she felt incredibly satisfied. 

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. Regina flicked her wrist as if her life had depended on it, and she was back in Emma’s t-shirt in virtually no time.

She soon realized that she should’ve put on something more proper of hers when a key turned in the lock. Who could it be? 

She looked at the clock on Emma’s kitchen wall. It was 10.45. They should’ve met up with the others for the brunch 30 minutes ago. It would've been just typical of...

“Emma,” Snow’s voice sounded behind the door. 

… Snow White to come look for them. 

“You didn’t answer your phone, so I came to check if everything was alright…”

Snow stopped dead on her tracks as she was faced with the sight waiting for her. Regina and Emma were still both on the kitchen table, Regina propped up on her elbow and Emma sitting next to Regina, wearing nothing but one of her white tank tops and red panties that had a moist dark patch on her crotch.

Well, this was embarrassing.

Regina conjured new more appropriate clothes for both of them as Emma looked at her mother, her mouth gaping open. Snow must’ve known exactly what was going on.

“For fuck’s sake, Snow,”  Zelena’s voice sounded from the hallway. “They’re perfectly fine. Probably a bit preoccupied, if you know what I mean.”

“Ew, Zelena,” Henry’s voice responded somewhere near Zelena, and Regina was suddenly very alarmed as she jumped off the table and pulled Emma to stand up with her. “Even  _ I  _ know what you mean. I’m not ten, and as much as I want my moms to sort their stuff out, they’re still my  _ moms. _ ”

“Sorry,” Zelena said without sounding sorry at all. “Just being honest.”

Snow had lost her ability to speak by the time Zelena and Henry entered the apartment. Henry looked suspicious as his eyes shifted from one mother to another, whereas Zelena’s gaze was completely fixated on Regina. It was as if she was asking her a question.

Regina nodded at her sister, whose face broke into a wide smile. She mouthed “ _ Congrats. Finally, _ ” behind everyone's backs before anyone started talking. 

“Hi, moms,” Henry said, his tone vary and his expression more suspicious each passing second.

“So, Henry knows what happened in Vegas,” Snow blurted out.

“What?” Regina barked. Had Snow revealed her secret  _ again?  _ Would she ever learn? “What did you say?”

“Why would you assume I said something?” Snow asked, her brow scrunching before she even got to finish her sentence. “Okay, I understand why, but it wasn’t me.”

“Well?” Regina replied, her gaze shifting between the three of them.

“Mom… Mom,” Henry said, stepping forward as he spoke. “This has been kinda obvious ever since mom got engaged to Hook. Mom was insanely jealous, and you both kept looking at each other like it hurt.”

Regina felt the need to disagree, but Emma put a hand on her arm and she swallowed whatever it was that she would’ve otherwise said.

“When I got the picture of mom kissing mom on the cheek, I  _ knew  _ something had changed, so I had to do some research,” Henry explained, his voice and the movements of his hands getting more animated as he continued. “I don’t think any of you know this, but Zelena has been sucked into the world of Twitter, which means she actually tweeted… Hold on, let me show you.”

As Henry pulled his phone out of his pocket, Regina turned to look at her sister. She couldn’t believe this, but Zelena looked incredibly guilty, her expression apologetic as she put her hands into the pockets of her jacket.

“Oops?”

“First poker, now this. I honestly think we should discuss how you use the internet,” Regina said. This couldn’t go on. Who knew what Zelena would do next.

“I don’t always understand how it works!” 

“Okay, here,” Henry cut in, holding his phone out as he moved closer to Regina and Emma. 

**_Twitter user @BetterThanRegina tweeted:_ **

**_“I can’t believe I just witnessed my sister and her bestie getting married! There’s no place like Vegas!”_ **

**_“Casino hopping with my good friend @cookingwithcrossbows today! First stop: the Venetian.”_ **

**_“Thank god we didn’t stay at Excalibur.”_ **

“There’s also a picture. I think you really should talk to her about privacy on the internet, mom.”

“Is this your ‘I told Snow not to tell Henry. You’re welcome, by the way’?” Regina asked her sister. “And what the hell is your username?”

“I’m sorry! I don’t know how to change it!” Zelena said. She seemed genuine. “But shouldn’t we concentrate on what’s happened afterwards?”

“That’s right,” Snow said, finally regaining her usual speaking abilities. Her gaze shifted knowingly between Regina and Emma. Regina felt like she was starring in a terrible romantic comedy. “What has happened?”

“Well,” Regina said, but she wasn’t sure how to go on. How much should they reveal? She couldn’t say anything that was more than what Emma wanted their family to know. It wasn’t only her decision to make. Not that she wanted to discuss what had happened in the span of the last 10 hours in the first place. That was between her and Emma.

Silence filled the room. Even though Zelena seemed to know exactly what was going on, she stayed quiet, too, waiting for Regina’s response just as eagerly as Snow and Henry.

Despite staying relatively quiet during the entire interaction, it was Emma who eventually responded.

“We aren’t getting a divorce,” she said.

Regina smiled. Emma’s answer was perfect: it explained quite a lot without going too much into detail.

“Are you serious?” Snow said. Her face broke into a goofy smile after the initial shock, which kinda supported Emma’s incredible theory that the woman actually wanted Regina to be her daughter-in-law. 

“Moms!” Henry sighed happily and pulled both of them into a hug.

“Oh, girls,” Snow beamed. “I am so happy. True Love.”

_ There it is.  _ Regina had been expecting Snow to start talking about True Love sooner or later.  She personally believed it was likely she and Emma were True Love; it would’ve explained so many things, one of which was that their magic that was far more powerful when they fought together.

She didn’t need any actual verification or curse to make sure, though. Her love for Emma was as true as her romantic love for anyone had ever gotten, and living in this world had taught her that sometimes real life fairytales were much more magical than the ones from their land.

“So, are you going to have another wedding ceremony here? Oh, can I be the maid of honor now that you can’t choose each other?” Snow was buzzing with excitement, and it was starting to hurt Regina’s head all over again.

“Excuse me, but I would definitely be Regina’s. I’m her  _ sister,”  _ Zelena asserted. 

“There will be no wedding,” Regina pointed out, which earned a frown from Zelena, Snow, and even Henry.

“Why not?” Henry asked, genuinely curious.

“Because,” Regina started. “Emma and I have already discussed this. We don’t want a fancy wedding. I don’t have good memories of weddings because of my first one.”

“Sometimes real life is more magical than fairytale weddings, kid,” Emma added, voicing Regina's earlier thoughts.

“Okay,” Henry agreed. He still looked pensive, so Regina assumed this would be discussed again at some point. She was more than happy to explain this to Henry further, though since all that  _ really _ mattered to her was that Henry seemed to be more than fine with his mothers being together. It was incredible how well everything had worked out. 

“I’m so sad I missed your wedding,” Snow sighed a bit too dramatically, “but I understand.”

“I still have a video of it on my phone if it makes you feel any better,” Zelena suggested. “I saved my Sapcat story.” 

“You have Snapchat?” Henry asked. 

“Why yes, I recently made-”

“I’ve been planning to make a Snapchat too...” Emma added, although Zelena and Henry didn’t seem to be listening..

“What’s your username?” Henry asked Zelena.

“...It seems like it could be a lot of fun,” Emma continued.

“Enough! You are  _ not  _ showing that video to anyone right now, Zelena,” Regina said, taken aback by Zelena’s revelation. She wasn’t sure what Sapcat or Snapchat was, but there was no way in  _ hell _ anyone would see that video. Not before she had checked if it was appropriate. (It probably wasn't.) She didn’t need Henry, or anyone else for that matter, to see her in the condition she had been in in Vegas.

Zelena's mouth formed a tight line, but she nodded obediently and put the phone back into her pocket.

“But moooom,” Henry begged. “This is literally my moms getting married and I won’t be able to see it.”

“A lot of people haven’t seen their parents’ weddings because they were born only after them, you know,” Emma pointed out.

Henry rolled his eyes.

“Maybe when he’s eighteen?” Emma added, asking for Regina’s opinion.

She stayed quiet for a while before replying, “Maybe. I need to see that video first. Would you be so kind and send it to me, Zelena?”

“Sure thing, sis,” Zelena replied and pulled her phone out again. 

“What about me?” Snow asked.

“Later,” Regina agreed. Snow hadn’t been able to see her daughter’s wedding after all… or been able to be there for most other important events of her life. It was only fair she’d get to see the drunken wedding if she so wished.

“Thank you,” Snow almost whispered.

There was a sound coming from the hallway again, and this time it was David who entered Emma’s apartment. He was carrying Neal whose chin and shirt were covered in some sort of brown liquid. The three-year-old didn't seem to notice the state of his clothing, though, all too excited to see the people in the apartment.

“Sorry, we had a chocolate milk emergency,” David explained as he set Neal down to stand by himself. 

Regina looked at Neal’s dirty shirt that was half-covered in the beverage, and with a flick of her wrist, Neal’s shirt was clean again. The boy giggled as a puff of magic surrounded him.

“Egina,” he giggled.

Regina fought the urge to laugh at Neal’s mispronunciation. He was still looking for his Rs.

“Oh, look, your shirt is clean!” Snow said to Neal as she took his hand. “What do you say to Regina?”

“Thank you,” Neal said and covered his face with his other hand.

“You’re welcome, Neal,” Regina responded and flashed the toddler a smile. She turned to look at Emma who was smiling too. 

She was glad Emma had been able to come to terms with the resentment she had originally felt towards her parents having another child. It hadn’t been easy - Regina had been there for Emma, listening to her cry because she had felt so replaced and unwanted - but now the woman loved her little brother so much. Regina knew Emma’s abandonment issues and not feeling good and worthy enough were still there, and she promised she would do everything in her power to make Emma feel that she was more than worthy just by being herself. 

“So, what’s happened here?” David asked, pulling Regina back from her thoughts.

“Emma and Regina are going to stay married,” Snow informed her husband with excitement in her voice. 

There was a confused expression that Regina was all too used to seeing on David’s face, but he nodded a few times before before saying, “That’s nice. That’s nice.”

Regina  guessed was David was rather oblivious when it came to the relationship of his daughter and his wife’s former nemesis, but he seemed to be trying. Snow had most certainly updated him on everything after their trip. 

“So, Granny’s?” Zelena asked them after an awkward silence.

“Yeah!” Henry replied enthusiastically and was joined with approving murmurs. Their party started moving towards the apartment door, but Regina stood behind them, just looking at them. She couldn’t believe she was this lucky.

“Hey, you okay?” Emma said when she realized Regina wasn’t following them. Everyone else was in the hallway already, Henry leading their party, but Emma had turned around and was looking at Regina with questioning eyes. 

“I’m good, Emma,” she answered truthfully, a smile tugging at the corners of her lips. She flicked her wrist and her phone appeared in her hand. “Would you like to see the wedding video before we go?” 

“Totally,” Emma smirked as she moved closer to Regina. “God, I bet this will be so embarrassing. I honestly think we should just have another ceremony instead of showing this to my mom.”

“Probably,” she agreed as she looked for Zelena’s message.

“Wait, really?” Emma said.

“We’ll think about it.” She really wasn’t a fan of marriage. She would never be, not after being forced to marry someone she hadn’t wanted to marry so young, but a very simple ceremony that celebrated her love with Emma didn’t sound  _ that  _ bad. She would give it another thought.

“I don’t wanna pressure you into anything, though. You know that, right?” Emma asked. Her expression was worried as she took Regina’s free hand in hers. 

“I know,” Regina replied and kissed Emma’s cheek. “We don’t have to decide now.”

The video Zelena had sent her was a couple of minutes long. She would have to ask her sister if there was more filming she had done at the ceremony, but right now, she simply clicked play.

“Oh, my God,” Zelena’s voice said behind the camera. “They’re actually doing it.”

The video wasn’t the kind of video she was used to. It consisted of small 10-second-long fragments and there was odd text in front of the actual video; one minute she was watching a regular video and the next thing she knew, there was “Las Vegas” written in pink and blue cursive on the top of the screen . 

“Do you, Emma Swan, want to take Regina Mills as your lawfully wedded wife…” the minister in front of them asked, but Regina wasn’t concentrated on that. All she could see was Emma. Emma seemed happy, barely able to stand still in one place due to her excessive state of inebriation , but still smiling brighter than Regina remembered her smiling the entire weekend. 

“I do!” Emma on the video announced, and she could feel present-day Emma bring a hand to her mouth. 

“And do you, Regina Mills...” the minister continued as Zelena’s hand shook and she whispered, “This is it, sis. Say yes.”

“I do,” Regina on the video said in a determined voice. It was easy to tell she had been drunk during their wedding since it seemed to be hard for her to stand straight, but Emma held her in place before they kissed. She grabbed her by the waist, and Regina responded to the kiss with just as much enthusiasm, her arms wrapping behind Emma’s neck.

“I now pronounce you wife and wife. You may kiss each other, but since that’s already what you’re doing…” the minister concluded and snapped his book closed. “Have a good one.”

The screen went dark.

“That wasn’t too bad,” Emma commented. 

“I expected way worse. I honestly think Zelena has more videos, but she just doesn’t want to show them in case I’d tell her to delete them,” she thought out loud.

Emma laughed. “Probably. Would you tell her to delete them?”

“No,” she replied without any hesitation. “No matter how we ended up together, I’m glad we did, and I will cherish every moment I’ve had with you.”

“Really?” Emma said, amusement clear on her face. “Every moment you’ve had with me? Do you remember my first year in Storybrooke?” 

Regina scoffed as she pocketed her phone and turned to face Emma, taking her hands in hers. “It all led us here and gave us Henry, so yes, I’d do it all over again. Well, almost all of it.” There were a few bits she wasn’t particularly proud of and could’ve done differently.

“Me too.”

“I love you,” she said before pressing a kiss on Emma’s lips.

“I know,” Emma replied and smiled. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'M FREE.
> 
> if you have something nice to say, feel free to let me know! i hope you all had a good pride month.


End file.
